MicroMacro similarities?

[lukees]

I played this great board game a couple years ago called MicroMacro that was getting a lot of buzz in the tabletop space. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought the game play would lend itself well to a chill point and click game, but it's curious that this game also has a very similar art style.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/318977/micromacro-crime-city

[UPDATE: Replaced the use of "copy" with "similar" so I sound less accusatory.]

[Gaming Snob]

This was my first thought when I saw the actual gameplay. I'm fine with people picking up some of the concepts from MicroMacro (It's a really cool game), this was... really on the nose. Rubs me the wrong way.

[MasterRPG]

Originally posted by lukees:

I played this great board game a couple years ago called MicroMacro that was getting a lot of buzz in the tabletop space. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought the game play would lend itself well to a chill point and click game, but it's curious that this game also copies the art style.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/318977/micromacro-crime-city

Hi Lukees, nice to meet you!
Thank you for your feedback - I can give you a short answer, but if you want to go deeper, I already talked about it in the demo thread ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/1736290/discussions/0/3777994239409845453/ - one of the first message in the thread).

The short answer is: both the games share the same roots - old black and white paper magazines with puzzles and quizzes.
That's where the similarity starts. Luckily, when we discovered MM after the first months of development, we had already taken a very different path. Both in the art direction and especially in the gameplay.

I honestly think both games are cool and fun but in a different ways. We are happy there is enough space for different games sharing the same roots in the gaming world.

[flope004]

As far as I can see there is no such a thing of the art going in a different direction at all.
They look really really similar, rabbit-like cartoons, in city, from the same point of view, in black and white. Are you trying to tell us that is just a coincidence and still insist that it goes to a different direction?

[Zantos]

This game has a clearly other art style than micro macro. Played 2 MM games the map there was very geometrical with 90°angles with little details in general(not meant negatively).
As far as i can see this has many more Details and puzzles between Timezones instead of the same map. What do you need more to seperate it from MM? Game looks promising lets see where it goes.

[lukees]

Originally posted by MasterRPG:

I honestly think both games are cool and fun but in a different ways. We are happy there is enough space for different games sharing the same roots in the gaming world. […]

Thanks for the answer! I didn't mean to imply that if any copying/inspiration occurred that it was malicious on your part—I was mostly curious if anyone else noticed all the similarities. I believe the creative process heavily involves remixing other people's ideas anyway (like Tomb Raider remixing Uncharted and Uncharted remixing games—and movies—before it) Assuming the MM designer/publisher had no intent on bringing their game to a digital format, I'm sure they'll appreciate seeing a variant of their game on a screen with more features, detailed art, etc.

[MasterRPG]

Originally posted by lukees:

Originally posted by MasterRPG:

I honestly think both games are cool and fun but in a different ways. We are happy there is enough space for different games sharing the same roots in the gaming world. […]

Thanks for the answer! I didn't mean to imply that if any copying/inspiration occurred that it was malicious on your part—I was mostly curious if anyone else noticed all the similarities. I believe the creative process heavily involves remixing other people's ideas anyway (like Tomb Raider remixing Uncharted and Uncharted remixing games—and movies—before it) Assuming the MM designer/publisher had no intent on bringing their game to a digital format, I'm sure they'll appreciate seeing a variant of their game on a screen with more features, detailed art, etc.

Don't worry - your feedback is super appreciated. The only word it seemed a little bit rough is "copycat" in the title, but your post was super polite, and we like to talk with players, so feel free to give us feedback whenever you like.

Originally posted by Zantos:

This game has a clearly other art style than micro macro. Played 2 MM games the map there was very geometrical with 90°angles with little details in general(not meant negatively).

Yes, you're right. The art direction is very different - because the goals of the two games are very different.

Anyway, if someone is curious about the gameplay, there are some videos on youtube, made during the Mystery Fest, when we released the first demo.

I cannot wait to see what you players will think about the game when we'll release it. I hope you will enjoy the stuff we put in the game :)

[AbeAwesome]

Come on, man, it's fine to rip things off, but don't say you aren't ripping it off. lol

[MasterRPG]

Originally posted by AbeAwesome:

Come on, man, it's fine to rip things off, but don't say you aren't ripping it off. lol

I don't think your message is a good way to engage in a discussion. So, please, I ask you to be better in the future if you want to be part of this community.

Anyway, I invite you to check the videos on youtube posted during the Mystery Festival and see by yourself the huge differences between the two games :)
Or wait until the release and try the game - I'm sure your opinion will be different because I understand that the B/W style can be misleading at first glance.

[adolson]

Originally posted by MasterRPG:

Originally posted by AbeAwesome:

Come on, man, it's fine to rip things off, but don't say you aren't ripping it off. lol

I don't think your message is a good way to engage in a discussion. So, please, I ask you to be better in the future if you want to be part of this community.

You come off as suspiciously defensive, and overly harsh in this reply. AbeAwesome wasn't off-base here, and he could have been so much harsher with his comment... I would hate to see yet another thin-skinned developer generating controversy by alienating their potential customers over legitimate, and dare I say, rather polite, comments.

I didn't even hear of this game until Nintendo posted a Switch trailer for it, and I did a double-take. The MicroMacro games are sitting on my shelf as I type, and at first glance, I thought this was a digital adaptation. It's undeniably similar, and very obviously... inspired, I'll say. I could tell from the trailer that it's got more video gamey mechanics layered in it, so it isn't just a 1:1 clone by any means. The art has more details, too, such as shading (though the perspectives are the same and even some of the other details are stupefyingly similar).

I don't have a problem with it. I would prefer honesty and humility, though. Threatening people who won't believe this is the biggest coincidence in the history of gaming is not cool. I hope you reconsider these tactics.

All that said, I love MicroMacro. I will try the Crime O'Clock demo, and if I like it, I'll be buying it (not sure if for PC or console, though). If I see more displays of fragility on here from those representing the company(s) behind this game, I may change my mind.

[AV]

Ah ah, the *so* classical "I was very surprised when I discovered our game was so similar of this other game I *never heard talking about anytime before* !!" ..... How funny all that obvious plagiarists always fall in the same tick of defense ... obviously taking people for fools... 😏

[AbeAwesome]

Originally posted by AV:

Ah ah, the *so* classical "I was very surprised when I discovered our game was so similar of this other game I *never heard talking about anytime before* !!" ..... How funny all that obvious plagiarists always fall in the same tick of defense ... obviously taking people for fools... 😏

Let's be fair here, this isn't plagiarism by any means, you can't (and shouldn't be able to) claim ownership over a gameplay idea or mechanic, and the art and scenarios in this are completely original.

But as I said in my initial post, I find it very hard to believe this wasn't made with MicroMacro in mind.


To the devs: I see the demo is out, and I will definitely give it a shot, as you suggested in your initial response to me. Hope you do the idea justice.

[AV]

Originally posted by AbeAwesome:

But as I said in my initial post, I find it very hard to believe this wasn't made with MicroMacro in mind.

It's *so obvious* that they used Mico Macro as source for this game that the sweet speech of the dev above is obviously pure lies and hypocrisy.

And the fact that "but the art is different" would do nothing in that ... BUT in fact EVEN THE ART is very similar and an obvious borrowing from Micro Macro : similarly black & white, similarly huge map with lots of little characters doing lots of various actions, even similarly charachters as antropomorphic animals !! Ok, the drawing style is different in some way ... ugh, you think that a plagiarism would be a pure photocopy ?

Please, stop making excuses to a so hypocrite speech.
If at least they recognized their source of inspiration and had the minimum respect to mention it... I have no problem with inspiration, but I cannot support such intellectual dishonesty.

[AV]

(... And about the script wrapping ... we see that the dev has seen Tenet ... and I wait when he will explain to us that "he is very surprised about all similarities because he had never heard of this movie before" ... 😏)

[MasterRPG]

Hi!
I followed with interest in the conversation going on. I’m here to underline only two things:

1. We like to have a good mood and atmosphere here in our community. We’re open to reading and answering all criticisms and feedback, but we want to keep the conversation friendly and nice for everyone. Still, I’m encouraging you to keep discussing the topic, if you like - but using the right manners. Thank you.

2. Because I’m sure some of the comments above are made with good intentions - and also because I really like to talk with players so passionate about games, I want to answer some of the criticisms, giving you also a behind the scene about our game (please note: I think it’s a waste of time for everyone replying to “plagiarism” or “fragility” accusation so that I will ignore them - if you think that is real stuff, you should just forget about this game. There are plenty more here on Steam). I keep forgetting I’m older than most of the players in our community, and sometimes my cultural references are now unknown. My bad: I talked about some references last time without giving the proper links. I'm glad to introduce you to the “Corvo Parlante” (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RSQWZRi3lfM/T8E9TA9R6OI/AAAAAAAA09I/Z_UkTaM2wD0/s1600/corvo_parlante.jpg)- the puzzle that inspired Crime O’Clock and a lot of other games in this genre. It’s an investigation game with a hidden object puzzle in black and white we enjoyed when we were young during the summer school break, and it was definitely the major inspiration for the game.

(The joke about Tenet made me laugh :D I’m happy the pop culture references inside the game are some of the stuff you like more!).

[lukees]

Now that I think about it, the art style and the core concept of searching for things in a large illustration, is also similar to Hidden Folks (https://hiddenfolks.com), so perhaps this is just a slowly emerging niche genre 🤷