So, last night a fellow BGG'er pointed me towards Scream Machine. Quite sadly for me, this game bears many resemblances to my Theme Park prototype. Both games are card based. Both games have palyers competing for customers based on their preferences for different ride types. Now, there are some differences. My rides have far more attributes than those found in Scream Machine. Customers' preferences are also based on more factors. However, the similarities between the two games are just too close for my comfort. I've been told I shouldn't necessarily abandon the prototype, as there is room within a genre for overlapping games. It is a decision I will be struggling with for a little while. More importantly, this reminds me that I must be more diligent in my pre-prototype research. My pre-Theme Park research uncovered Roller Coaster Tycoon, but not Scream Machine. Had I in fact seen it, I would definitely have not put so much time into it, or at least made sure to differentiate it more.
I recently found out that my latest prototype had a unique mechanic found in another game that came out last year. My game is different enough, but I lost all of the bonus points I would have gotten if my game was the first to implemnent that mechanic.
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