Hi  everyone,

I'm coming from a scientific research background and have been working solo on a small game project over the past few months, mostly for fun, learning, and experimenting with systems and modeling.

Later on, I came across a small studio that had publicly announced a game with a remarkably similar theme and structure. It really caught me off guard, it’s a niche idea I had never seen in that form before. I only had access to their pitch and visual materials, so I couldn’t really compare the internal mechanics.

Out of reflexes from academia, where overlapping work can cause real issues, I reached out to them. I pointed out the amazing coincidence, wished them well, and told them I wouldn't release or commercialize anything, just to avoid any misunderstanding or stress. This is just a personal side project for me, I'm not a professional after all.

But now I'm wondering : did I overreact ? And if I did, is it fair to still reflect on it openly ?

In research, “being too close” to another project, even unintentionally, can be very badly perceived, or simply lead to being totally ignored and invisible. But I’ve since noticed that many indie games share very similar themes or ideas and still coexist.

So I’m genuinely curious to have some experienced devs' opinion:

– How common is it for different developers to end up building similar games?
– Do people usually stop when that happens, or keep going anyway?
– What’s considered respectful in this kind of situation?

Since I said I’d step back, I guess it's a little bit too late to go backwards... I'm a bit sad and disappointed, because I really wanted to share these ideas and see if anyone could enjoy them. I’m hoping to better understand what’s usual and healthy in this creative space. It was just a small personal project, but I really cared about it.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Even if you both have the exact same game idea at the start, in the end a different game will come out. I wouldn't worry about it.

– How common is it for different developers to end up building similar games?
– Do people usually stop when that happens, or keep going anyway?
– What’s considered respectful in this kind of situation?

It's pretty common to see different devs making similar games. For instance, I see multiple devs are making survival games in FB groups I've joined and I don't think they'd stop cause because of that. Who knows if the end result would be the same .... if they completed the game that is.

In this situation, we'd just support each other cause we're fellow devs.

– How common is it for different developers to end up building similar games?

It happens all the time. Sometimes you don't realize it and think you have a new and unique idea, but often that idea is inspired by something external—an event, a movie, or an old game you knew. Nowadays, there are many people who were exposed to the same inspiration and are also creating games.

Many famous games aren't usually the first ones. For example, if you think of platformers where you jump on your enemies, the first thing you probably think of is Super Mario Bros. for the NES. But if you investigate, you'll see that many concepts and mechanics predate it. There were other platformers and others where you killed your enemies by jumping on them.

This doesn't mean that Super Mario copied those games; rather, that the "seed" isn't really as unique as you initially thought.

– Do people usually stop when that happens, or keep going anyway?

A game is unique not only because of its core mechanics or setting, but also because of all its components: art, music, production, etc.

Today, there are many games that are similar and yet completely different.

Without more details, I couldn't tell you how unique or common your idea is, or if what you thought is actually the same as what you found, as that depends largely on the details, not just the general idea.

– What’s considered respectful in this kind of situation?

The first thing you should do is play the other game and make sure it's actually the same as what you had in mind.

As I mentioned above, sometimes a game can seem similar, but be different at the same time.

For example, maybe they focus on X mechanic, and you really want the focus of your game to be on Y. Even though they share the same mechanics, there's plenty of room for them to be different.

For example, Magic the Gatering vs. Yu-Gi-Ho.

I remind you that I'm speaking in general terms since you didn't go into details.

remarkably similar theme and structure

Shared inspirational source maybe. Could be indirect through several steps.

Also, there is the genre aspect of many games. One will always find common ingredients or ways to categorize and group games together. It is also the concept of tropes (plot devices).

It could also be as simple as you not having encountered this type of game concept before, and the concept not being as unique as you thought it to be.

Is it a secret, or can you share the core tropes? This might be fun. You name the tropes only, and people would tell you games that have those.

A friend and I were talking about the idea we had for a game. He quickly tough we had the same game idea and felt discouraged to make his game. I sent him a prototype of my game. He played it. He immediately replied that his idea was different and started to work on his game.

Convergence of ideas Vs Divergence of implementations:

 * When we compare ideas, we see the similarities.

 * When we compare implementations, we see the differences.

Conclusion: Make your game !