I feel like a pure side-view 2D climber, with my creative style and ideas, could still add something new. Especially as a local and online multiplayer game, everyone climbing the same mountain and fighting for handholds.
We can make it about moving from handhold to handhold before your** limbs/stamina/strength runs out**. (So quick decisions about which paths to take and where to go, while other players can steal handholds and get in the way.)
And then we can ALSO make it about “placing safety ropes” with the single interaction button you have. You must place safety anchors/ropes in the right places, at the right intervals, grabbing enough “rope-powerups” to keep yourself stocked. If you ever fall or let go, the rope (which is just a simple elasticity equation) will catch you and allow you to continue.
- You can simply move left/right freely while hanging from the rope—this barely costs any strength because it’s rope-supported.
- But the moment you go BEYOND the rope again—above it, out of range—it gets loose and you’re climbing on your own again.
Maybe the mountain literally becomes a point near the top, forcing players to be close together more and more as you reach the top.