{ "id": "games", "name": "Game taste swipe", "title": "Taste Swipe: Games", "heading": "What game do you want?", "rounds": 100, "subject": "a game", "categories": { "premise": { "name": "Premise", "hue": 28 }, "tone": { "name": "Tone", "hue": 340 }, "art": { "name": "Art style", "hue": 200 }, "camera": { "name": "Camera", "hue": 180 }, "scale": { "name": "Scale", "hue": 15 }, "role": { "name": "Your role", "hue": 260 }, "economy": { "name": "Economy", "hue": 45 }, "building": { "name": "Building", "hue": 90 }, "units": { "name": "Units", "hue": 0 }, "combat": { "name": "Combat", "hue": 355 }, "control": { "name": "Control", "hue": 220 }, "enemy": { "name": "Opposition", "hue": 300 }, "info": { "name": "Information", "hue": 240 }, "systems": { "name": "World systems", "hue": 160 }, "map": { "name": "Maps", "hue": 120 }, "meta": { "name": "Progression", "hue": 50 }, "story": { "name": "Story", "hue": 280 }, "pace": { "name": "Pace", "hue": 10 }, "social": { "name": "Playing with others", "hue": 190 }, "challenge": { "name": "Challenge", "hue": 5 }, "sound": { "name": "Sound", "hue": 310 }, "feel": { "name": "Feel", "hue": 35 }, "platform": { "name": "Platform", "hue": 210 }, "reference": { "name": "Games like", "hue": 0 } }, "atoms": [ [ "premise", "Last fire in a dark world", "The sun is gone. Your light is the only safe ground.", "" ], [ "premise", "Gangs of a 1930s city", "Rackets, speakeasies and turf wars, block by block.", "" ], [ "premise", "Occult war hidden in a modern city", "Vampires, witches and a secret bureau fight where nobody may notice.", "" ], [ "premise", "Space fleets over planets", "Carriers, fighters and orbital bombardment.", "" ], [ "premise", "Medieval kingdoms", "Castles, knights, sieges and succession.", "" ], [ "premise", "Ant colony underground", "Tunnels, queens, pheromone trails and beetle raids.", "" ], [ "premise", "Cold War proxy conflict", "Spies, coups and tanks that never quite cross the border.", "" ], [ "premise", "Post-apocalyptic scavengers", "Rusted vehicles, raiders and the last clean water.", "" ], [ "premise", "Mythic gods at war", "Each faction worships a god who walks the battlefield.", "" ], [ "premise", "Tiny toy soldiers in a house", "Plastic armies fight across a kitchen floor.", "" ], [ "premise", "Viking raids and new lands", "Longships, frozen fjords and sagas.", "" ], [ "premise", "Alien invasion of Earth", "Defend cities against something that does not negotiate.", "" ], [ "premise", "Corporate cyberpunk", "Megacorps, drones, hackers and neon streets.", "" ], [ "premise", "Islands at sea", "Archipelagos, ships, storms and trade winds.", "" ], [ "premise", "Dinosaurs and primal tribes", "Tame beasts, hold the valley, survive extinction.", "" ], [ "premise", "Microbes inside a body", "Immune cells against an infection, in real time.", "" ], [ "tone", "Grim and serious", "War is costly, losses hurt, nothing is played for laughs.", "" ], [ "tone", "Cozy and warm", "Low stakes, soft edges, a world you like visiting.", "" ], [ "tone", "Funny and absurd", "Silly units, jokes in the barks, chaos on purpose.", "" ], [ "tone", "Eerie and dreadful", "Something is wrong out in the dark and you feel it.", "" ], [ "tone", "Heroic and epic", "Big music, big moments, you save the day.", "" ], [ "tone", "Noir and cynical", "Everyone has a price and nobody is clean.", "" ], [ "tone", "Melancholic and beautiful", "A sad, quiet world that is still lovely to look at.", "" ], [ "tone", "Over-the-top action", "Explosions, swagger and a cheesy one-liner per unit.", "" ], [ "tone", "Mysterious and strange", "Weird rules and a world you slowly figure out.", "" ], [ "art", "Low-poly diorama", "Clean faceted shapes, like a model on a table.", "" ], [ "art", "Painterly and hand-drawn", "Brush strokes, like a living illustration.", "" ], [ "art", "Pixel art", "Crisp sprites and a deliberate retro palette.", "" ], [ "art", "Gritty realism", "Mud, smoke, wear and realistic lighting.", "" ], [ "art", "High-contrast noir", "Mostly black, a few hard lights, strong silhouettes.", "" ], [ "art", "Toy-like miniatures", "Tilt-shift blur and units that look like painted figurines.", "" ], [ "art", "Bright cartoon", "Saturated colours, chunky outlines, big readable shapes.", "" ], [ "art", "Ink and paper", "Inked lines on a parchment-coloured world.", "" ], [ "art", "Neon on black", "Glowing lines and colour against deep darkness.", "" ], [ "art", "Soft pastel", "Gentle colours and soft light, almost dreamlike.", "" ], [ "art", "Voxel world", "Everything built from little cubes that can break.", "" ], [ "art", "Lighting is the art", "A dark world where light sources do all the work.", "" ], [ "art", "Detailed and dense", "Lots of little props and life in every corner.", "" ], [ "art", "Minimal and abstract", "Simple shapes and symbols, almost a board game.", "" ], [ "camera", "Classic top-down RTS camera", "High and angled, the whole battle at a glance.", "" ], [ "camera", "Close to the ground", "Low camera, you see faces and the horizon.", "" ], [ "camera", "Strategic map zoom", "Zoom out until armies become icons on a map.", "" ], [ "camera", "Fixed isometric", "One clean angle, everything readable.", "" ], [ "camera", "Side view", "A battle line seen from the side, like a 2D war.", "" ], [ "camera", "Free rotating camera", "Spin and tilt around the battle as you like.", "" ], [ "camera", "Cinematic replays", "Watch your best moments from dramatic angles.", "" ], [ "scale", "A squad of three to five", "Each unit is a character you keep alive.", "" ], [ "scale", "A company of thirty", "Enough for tactics, few enough to care.", "" ], [ "scale", "Armies of hundreds", "Blocks of soldiers clash across a field.", "" ], [ "scale", "Thousands on screen", "Swarms and waves that fill the map.", "" ], [ "scale", "One hero plus an army", "A powerful commander fights at the front.", "" ], [ "scale", "A whole city to run", "Thousands of citizens, you steer the whole.", "" ], [ "scale", "A small map, a short fight", "One clearing, one bridge, one decision.", "" ], [ "scale", "A continent-sized war", "Many fronts at once across a huge map.", "" ], [ "role", "General giving orders", "You command, the troops carry it out.", "" ], [ "role", "Commander on the battlefield", "You are a unit too, and you can die.", "" ], [ "role", "God or spirit above it all", "You nudge followers and the world indirectly.", "" ], [ "role", "Mayor or overseer", "You plan and build more than you fight.", "" ], [ "role", "Crime boss", "You run people, money and favours.", "" ], [ "role", "Guardian of one place", "You defend a single home against everything.", "" ], [ "role", "Explorer leading a band", "You venture into the unknown with a few followers.", "" ], [ "role", "Puppet master", "You win through others: bribes, spies, alliances.", "" ], [ "economy", "Workers gather resources", "Peasants chop, mine and haul back to base.", "" ], [ "economy", "Income from holding ground", "Control points or districts pay you over time.", "" ], [ "economy", "No economy, fixed army", "You get your forces up front and spend them well.", "" ], [ "economy", "Trade routes", "Caravans and ships move goods, and raiders hunt them.", "" ], [ "economy", "Scavenging the battlefield", "Loot wrecks and the fallen to fund the next push.", "" ], [ "economy", "One single currency", "Everything costs one simple resource.", "" ], [ "economy", "Many resources and chains", "Wood to planks to ships; deep production chains.", "" ], [ "economy", "Population that grows", "People are the resource: feed them and they multiply.", "" ], [ "economy", "Resources that run out", "Every deposit depletes, so you must expand.", "" ], [ "economy", "Upkeep and supply lines", "Armies far from home cost more and starve if cut off.", "" ], [ "building", "A full base to build", "Lay out barracks, walls and towers your way.", "" ], [ "building", "No base at all", "Pure armies; you never place a building.", "" ], [ "building", "A mobile base", "Your base walks, flies or rolls with you.", "" ], [ "building", "Walls and fortifications", "Wall off chokepoints and watch waves break.", "" ], [ "building", "Grid-free organic building", "Place things anywhere on natural terrain.", "" ], [ "building", "Capture instead of build", "Take over existing buildings in the world.", "" ], [ "building", "A city that grows itself", "You zone and guide; houses appear on their own.", "" ], [ "building", "Few big buildings", "Three or four structures, each one matters.", "" ], [ "building", "Building as a puzzle", "Placement and adjacency bonuses really matter.", "" ], [ "units", "Rock, paper, scissors roster", "Clear counters: spears beat horses beat archers.", "" ], [ "units", "Named veterans", "Units gain names, ranks and scars you remember.", "" ], [ "units", "Disposable swarms", "Spend lives like ammo; quantity has a quality.", "" ], [ "units", "Customizable units", "Design your own loadouts and gear.", "" ], [ "units", "Very different factions", "Each side plays like a different game.", "" ], [ "units", "Mirror factions", "Everyone has the same tools, so only skill differs.", "" ], [ "units", "Big monsters and machines", "Giant units that change a fight on their own.", "" ], [ "units", "Heroes with abilities", "Special units with spells and cooldowns.", "" ], [ "units", "Units with morale", "Troops panic, rout and rally.", "" ], [ "units", "Tiny roster, deep units", "Five unit types, each with many uses.", "" ], [ "combat", "Fast micro battles", "Split, kite and focus fire with quick clicks.", "" ], [ "combat", "Positioning and formations", "Flanks, high ground and lines decide fights.", "" ], [ "combat", "Big slow clashes", "Armies grind into each other; you steer the tide.", "" ], [ "combat", "Physics destruction", "Buildings crumble, debris flies, terrain scars.", "" ], [ "combat", "Cover and suppression", "Units hide behind walls and pin each other down.", "" ], [ "combat", "Spells that reshape the field", "Fire, ice, floods, walls of stone.", "" ], [ "combat", "Ranged artillery duels", "Long-range guns and spotting decide everything.", "" ], [ "combat", "Ambushes and traps", "Lure the enemy into a killing ground.", "" ], [ "combat", "Sieges", "Break walls, starve garrisons, storm gates.", "" ], [ "combat", "Naval battles", "Fleets maneuver with wind and broadsides.", "" ], [ "combat", "Air power", "Planes, dragons or drones rule the skies.", "" ], [ "combat", "One-shot lethality", "Units die fast, so every mistake is costly.", "" ], [ "control", "Classic mouse control", "Box-select, right-click, hotkeys, as fast as you can.", "" ], [ "control", "Pause and plan", "Stop time, give orders, watch them play out.", "" ], [ "control", "Turn-based moves", "Take your time, one move each.", "" ], [ "control", "Simultaneous turns", "Everyone plans, then all moves happen together.", "" ], [ "control", "Indirect orders", "Set goals and priorities; units decide how.", "" ], [ "control", "Cards as commands", "Play cards from a hand to deploy and act.", "" ], [ "control", "Drawn paths", "Draw a route and units follow it.", "" ], [ "control", "Automation and scripts", "Build rules and let your army run itself.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Rival factions like you", "Opponents that build and expand just as you do.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Endless monster waves", "Hold out against ever larger hordes.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Nature itself", "Storms, fire, cold and floods are the enemy.", "" ], [ "enemy", "A cunning AI commander", "An opponent that adapts to how you play.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Bosses", "Huge enemies with patterns to learn.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Other players only", "Every opponent is a real person.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Shifting alliances", "Today’s ally is tomorrow’s target.", "" ], [ "enemy", "A spreading corruption", "Something creeps across the map and you push it back.", "" ], [ "enemy", "Neutral creatures in the wild", "Camps of beasts guard treasure and terrain.", "" ], [ "info", "Fog of war", "You only see what your units see.", "" ], [ "info", "Perfect information", "Everything is visible; it is pure strategy.", "" ], [ "info", "Scouting really matters", "Knowing beats having; spies and scouts win wars.", "" ], [ "info", "Deception and decoys", "Fake armies, feints and bluffs.", "" ], [ "info", "Stealth units", "Invisible agents slip past defences.", "" ], [ "info", "Hidden objectives", "Each side has a secret goal to uncover.", "" ], [ "info", "Readable at a glance", "Every unit and state is clear without squinting.", "" ], [ "systems", "Day and night cycle", "The battle changes when the sun goes down.", "" ], [ "systems", "Weather that matters", "Rain, snow and fog change movement and sight.", "" ], [ "systems", "Seasons", "Harvest in autumn, starve in winter.", "" ], [ "systems", "Fire that spreads", "Forests and towns burn; wind carries it.", "" ], [ "systems", "Light and darkness as territory", "You can only act where your light reaches.", "" ], [ "systems", "Deformable terrain", "Dig trenches, blow craters, raise hills.", "" ], [ "systems", "Water and flooding", "Break a dam and the valley changes.", "" ], [ "systems", "Living ecosystem", "Animals breed, forests regrow, overhunting has a cost.", "" ], [ "systems", "Disease and plague", "Sickness spreads through crowded armies and towns.", "" ], [ "systems", "Heat or noise exposure", "Loud actions draw attention you cannot afford.", "" ], [ "systems", "Time manipulation", "Rewind, slow or skip time as a weapon.", "" ], [ "systems", "Gravity and physics", "Momentum, falls and collisions matter.", "" ], [ "map", "Hand-crafted maps", "Each map designed with care and secrets.", "" ], [ "map", "Procedural maps", "A new world every game.", "" ], [ "map", "Cities and streets", "Fight through alleys, rooftops and plazas.", "" ], [ "map", "Wild nature", "Forests, rivers, mountains and open fields.", "" ], [ "map", "Verticality", "Cliffs, towers and high ground everywhere.", "" ], [ "map", "Underground layers", "Fight above and below the surface.", "" ], [ "map", "Tiny arena", "Small maps, immediate fights.", "" ], [ "map", "Huge open world", "A sprawling map to explore and conquer.", "" ], [ "meta", "Roguelite runs", "Short runs, random upgrades, start over stronger.", "" ], [ "meta", "Long story campaign", "Mission after mission through a written war.", "" ], [ "meta", "Persistent empire", "A map that remembers every battle you fought.", "" ], [ "meta", "No progression", "Every match starts fresh and fair.", "" ], [ "meta", "Unlock new factions", "Earn new sides and units over time.", "" ], [ "meta", "Tech tree", "Research your way through a branching tree.", "" ], [ "meta", "Rule-breaking pacts", "Take deals that bend the rules at a price.", "" ], [ "meta", "Deckbuilding between battles", "Build a deck of units and powers.", "" ], [ "meta", "Veterans carry over", "Survivors return in the next battle, stronger.", "" ], [ "meta", "Base that grows between missions", "A home base you upgrade between fights.", "" ], [ "story", "Strong written story", "Characters, cutscenes and a plot with turns.", "" ], [ "story", "Emergent stories", "The best stories are what happened in your game.", "" ], [ "story", "Lore to dig up", "The world tells its story through ruins and notes.", "" ], [ "story", "No story at all", "Pure game, no words needed.", "" ], [ "story", "Choices that change the world", "Your decisions branch the campaign.", "" ], [ "story", "Characters who talk back", "Advisors and rivals react to what you do.", "" ], [ "story", "A mystery to solve", "Figure out what really happened.", "" ], [ "story", "Myth and legend tone", "Told like a saga, an epic poem.", "" ], [ "pace", "Five-minute matches", "A full game in one coffee break.", "" ], [ "pace", "Twenty-minute matches", "Room to build up and still finish in one sitting.", "" ], [ "pace", "Hour-long epics", "Slow builds and huge late-game wars.", "" ], [ "pace", "Slow and thoughtful", "Time to think; speed does not win.", "" ], [ "pace", "Frantic and fast", "Everything at once; reflexes matter.", "" ], [ "pace", "Calm build, sudden storm", "Quiet phases broken by intense attacks.", "" ], [ "pace", "Play in short bursts", "Pick up and put down any time.", "" ], [ "pace", "Sessions across weeks", "A long game you return to over days.", "" ], [ "social", "Solo against the AI", "Just you and the game.", "" ], [ "social", "Co-op with a friend", "Two players, one side, shared fate.", "" ], [ "social", "Competitive 1v1", "Ranked duels; you against one rival.", "" ], [ "social", "Free-for-all with betrayal", "Many players, alliances and backstabs.", "" ], [ "social", "Big team battles", "Four against four or more.", "" ], [ "social", "Async play", "Take your turn whenever, like correspondence chess.", "" ], [ "social", "Spectating and casting", "Matches fun to watch and stream.", "" ], [ "social", "Couch play on one screen", "Friends in the same room.", "" ], [ "social", "Community maps and mods", "Players make new content for each other.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Hard and punishing", "Losing is common and teaches you.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Relaxed, hard to lose", "Enjoy the ride, few fail states.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Easy to learn, deep to master", "Simple rules, endless depth.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Complex simulation", "Many interlocking systems to learn.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Puzzle-like missions", "Each scenario has a clever solution.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Adjustable everything", "Tune speed, difficulty and rules yourself.", "" ], [ "challenge", "Comebacks always possible", "No game is lost until it is lost.", "" ], [ "sound", "Orchestral score", "Strings, brass and choirs swell with the battle.", "" ], [ "sound", "Synth and electronic", "Pulsing synths and moody textures.", "" ], [ "sound", "Sparse ambience", "Wind, distant sounds, long silences.", "" ], [ "sound", "Units talk back", "Every click gets a voice line.", "" ], [ "sound", "Silent, wordless units", "Units answer with sounds, never words.", "" ], [ "sound", "Music that reacts", "The score follows the tension of the fight.", "" ], [ "sound", "Crunchy, heavy sound", "Every impact thumps; guns and steel feel weighty.", "" ], [ "feel", "Juicy feedback", "Screen shake, sparks and punchy hits.", "" ], [ "feel", "Calm and precise", "Clean, quiet feedback, like a tool.", "" ], [ "feel", "Weighty units", "Units have mass; turning and stopping take time.", "" ], [ "feel", "Snappy and responsive", "Orders execute instantly, no lag.", "" ], [ "feel", "Beautiful idle moments", "The game is lovely even when nothing happens.", "" ], [ "feel", "Satisfying chain reactions", "One move sets off a cascade.", "" ], [ "feel", "Tactile miniature feel", "Picking up and placing things feels physical.", "" ], [ "feel", "Big screen-filling moments", "Rare huge events that stop the room.", "" ], [ "platform", "PC with mouse and keyboard", "Precision clicks and hotkeys.", "" ], [ "platform", "Controller-friendly", "Plays well from the couch.", "" ], [ "platform", "Phone or tablet", "Touch controls, play anywhere.", "" ], [ "platform", "Runs in a browser", "Click a link and play.", "" ], [ "platform", "Steam Deck friendly", "Handheld PC play.", "" ], [ "platform", "VR tabletop", "Lean over the battlefield like a table.", "" ], [ "reference", "Command & Conquer: Generals", "Factions, superweapons, fast base-building war.", "" ], [ "reference", "StarCraft II", "Precise, fast, competitive, three wildly different races.", "" ], [ "reference", "Age of Empires II", "History, villagers, castles and long matches.", "" ], [ "reference", "Company of Heroes", "Squads, cover and territory in a gritty war.", "" ], [ "reference", "They Are Billions", "Walls against a zombie tide; one breach ends it.", "" ], [ "reference", "Northgard", "Vikings, seasons and cozy expansion.", "" ], [ "reference", "Bad North", "Tiny islands, minimalist art, short tactical raids.", "" ], [ "reference", "Warcraft III", "Heroes, creeps and a story campaign.", "" ], [ "reference", "Total War", "Huge field battles plus an empire map.", "" ], [ "reference", "Frostpunk", "Survive the cold; hard choices for a city.", "" ], [ "reference", "Into the Breach", "Small perfect puzzles with giant mechs.", "" ], [ "reference", "Desperados or Shadow Tactics", "Stealth, small squad, planning.", "" ], [ "reference", "Supreme Commander", "Gigantic scale and strategic zoom.", "" ], [ "reference", "Mindustry or Factorio", "Automation and production chains under attack.", "" ] ], "pitch": [ [ "premise", "a game about" ], [ "tone", "that feels" ], [ "art", "drawn as" ], [ "scale", "at the scale of" ], [ "role", "where you play the" ], [ "combat", "with combat built on" ], [ "meta", "held together by" ], [ "pace", "paced as" ], [ "social", "played as" ] ] }