Around the screen (along the border) is a row of inputs. These are just icons representing some action. Click them to do the action
Each player has its own “section”. (For example, with 4 players around a phone, each corner has an outline in a certain color.)
You can only press the buttons ( = use the icons) in your section (at that time).
Check my quick sketch below.
What inputs are there?
These should all be extremely simple inputs, like:
- Rotate left
- Rotate right
- Move two forward
The quintessential one, though, is something like:
Rotate the input sequence left/right
This would allow actions to change between players during the game. Meaning everyone needs to think on their feet and keep working together. At the same time, you can influence this and won’t get stuck.
This is heavily inspired by “Magic Maze”. (Where everyone controls all pawns. But each player only has 1-2 actions in front of them, that only they can do. It’s the same as that, but as a computer game, way more possible actions/player counts, and the actions change between players.)
Map / Level
For simple inputs (like rotate and move) to work well, it should be on a grid, where moving to certain locations is key.
What’s the theme?
For it to work on touchscreen, it must be “top down”. (So viewing from all angles is the same.)
Lastly, it’s cooperative and family friendly, so I’m leaning towards a cute “ethical” theme like:
- Rescue animals
- Play firemen / doctors / waiters
Otherwise, a basic stealing or breaking into a bank would work wonders. (The tension of: “we need to go in the room + go out in 5 seconds, otherwise the guard sees us” is great when the buttons are distributed.)