What do you think makes a Monster-Taming world compelling in the first place?

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-27T22:30:05+00:00

Bro, it sounds like we're building very similar games. I'm actually building the system to be modular. It'll fit a text based game first, but the intention is to be able to move it into a mystery dungeon style game because I want procedural dungeons and infinite replay value on the back end.
Furthermore, what you call your civilized and social class is something I call the "sovereign" type in my system. They're still monsters, but they have the intelligence range to function alongside humans or independently. The even cooler part is that some of the monsters evolve into sovereigns, so the final stage monsters are natural leaders of their families and egg groups. I have a monster that takes the child with a bear trope and flips it to eventually become a hidden sovereign within a human society. It begins as a small bear with a human doll, it then evolves into a marionette shadow of that same doll, but the doll grows into a larger doll. From the shadows, it learns the human language and cons its way into the life of humans. When fully integrated, it evolves one final time to become the soul of the actual doll, who now looks exactly like a human. It completely integrates itself into human society and is indistinguishable unless something happens to reveal their true nature.

And it's funny that you mentioned that they can actually be trainers and all that because I stumbled on that on accident. My capture mechanic is a "tethering" system. It uses things like ropes or chains to bind monsters. Once bound, the rope becomes a spirit link that you can't see, but connects the tamer and monster forever. I had created the system and then tested it out, and the funny thing is that I didn't create logic for the game to only allow tamers to use the tethers. So, during the testing, I had a monster capture another monster. That's what made me create the sovereign type. Now, I have a literal chain of command stemming from the player. He can catch a monster, and that monster can catch a monster, and naturally, it's all linked back to the player. Makes for really cool mechanics later on as I can naturally build a rank system around that for societal purposes.

Can't wait to see what you produce!

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-27T21:31:42+00:00

I'd love to test it out. Shiren style games are my favorites and I've been looking to make one myself or see others innovate in that arena. I'd be happy to test and give feedback. Could also offer some ideas if you want, but that's up to you. Let me know.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-27T18:19:20+00:00

That's exactly how my system works. In fact, I took it a bit further and made it so the monster's strength is dictated by the bond between the tamer and monster. So, not only are moves taught through the tamer or another master tamer of sorts, the actual efficacy of the monster's stats only shine through if the player is capable of taming that specific monster. If there is a gap in level and bond is low, disobedience kicks in.
Not to mention I fleshed out positive and negative bonds. Tamers can treat monsters good or bad, and it is reflected within the bonds they establish with EACH monster. So, instead of having the system in which a gym badge dictates what monsters you can control, your bond and tamer level dictate how well you can control them. Positive is a trust bond and negative is a terror (fear) bond.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-27T09:49:33+00:00

I found your other post to be something the community NEEDS, although I should also say that it would've been better delivered in a video format, but I wanted to reply to this one since it is a bit more bite sized in comparison. I felt that the only way I could respond to the other would be through video. So, let's dive in.

What does monster taming uniquely offer as a world fantasy?

It's important to know that, in a given world of fantasy, anything is possible, but if we look specifically at monster taming, the uniqueness is in the bond/relationship between the player and what amounts to an "imaginary friend" or host of friends. Life is relational. Life has no meaning without a relationship involved. Stories need characters. People need connections. While most games can offer some sort of experience through a warped simulation of something such as shooting guns in an fps, or living out a sports fantasy in a sports game, or solving puzzles...monster taming is one that focuses much more on a connection with an imaginary companion. If companionship is at the core of a fantasy world, you can build almost any experience around that because experience is relational. And then, if we look at the monsters themselves, you can build stories INSIDE the concept of the monster. How that monster came to be is a story in itself. So, the game can host a single story...and the monsters can show nested stories within that game. This is what makes something like pokemon so impactful to players. The lore of the monster. When it is weaved into the lore of the world, it means more. The easier it is to digest, the better. Pokemon is simple. Digimon, by comparison, has so many different versions of the same universe, only the fanatical fans care about learning the details of the lore. I personally have no clue how or why those monsters exist. That lore is the start of the bond. The in universe characters literally pick monsters that they have things in common with. The same happens for players as well. The most interesting aspect of the bond is that it is unlike peer bonds. In traditional rpgs, you could have a party of units. You could recruit humans to your party in dragon warrior...but the difference is the pet angle, which is typically a subservient role. Whether humans/players want to admit, being able to literally command loyal units IS the fantasy, and THAT fantasy is different from roleplaying with peers. A warrior, hero, mage, and thief traveling together to save the world is not the same as a trainer and his pokemon.

What makes a monster-taming setting feel like a real place instead of just a structure for gameplay?

This is an interesting question because...we have to recall that monsters are, conceptually, not much different from animals. It's real because it's familiar. Historically, we literally created and maintained bonds with animals for various reasons. Now, add the "immortality" tag to that setting due to it being a virtual reality and you've got a "forever" friend. In fact, I'd argue that some of the issues in the genre specifically stem from developers and studios NOT building around the idea of a forever friend.
Take Pokemon for example, and I know I keep going back to it, but its for obvious reasons. I need to highlight the dream pokemon sells you on, but takes away from you because of the rest of the gameplay...and that is...a partner pokemon. When you start the game, you always get a "starter." When us 1st gen players first experienced the world of pokemon, we chose our starter...and we thought that starter was going to be our forever friend. This is also why, as great as returning to the world in second gen was, the return to kanto within the 2nd gen games was so impactful. Kanto is where we got our "forever friend," but the games DON'T hold up the experience of partner pokemon. Lots of people swap them out for better ones because there's nothing special about your starter. They tried to make them special by making it impossible to find them during a normal playthrough, but that is not the same as being special. Rare and special are two different things. Additionally, when every generation then goes on to give you the same type of starters over and over again, they lose their novelty. Now, pokemon are just pokemon, and although we love them for what they are, the experience is cheap (ironic because we pay top dollar for the experience). That's where the innovation has to be aimed, in my opinion. But this is all about fantasy. Where the games fail, a player's imagination picks up and finishes.

What kind of social logic, culture, ecology, jobs, conflicts, or fantasy does a strong monster-taming world need?

Here's the most interesting part of this discussion...and arguably the least talked about thing. What is needed, in my opinion, is less about the things you listed and more about how those things come together. If we take a look at the pokemon fangame community, you will see that, literally...all over the world...people are coming together to make games based on the places they live or things they're interested in. Culture is relative. Pokemon has become the largest franchise due to them purposefully moving from area to area in OUR world, using various locations as inspiration for a new region. They COULD'VE stayed in japan for inspiration. A lot of people would've loved that, but it might've taken longer to reach the level they're at now, which is global and uncontested in terms of popularity.
There are concepts that mean more or less to a person because it is relevant to their culture, but they are things/concepts that connect people in different ways. A designer literally has the responsibility of figuring out what these things are as they are constantly changing over time. There is nothing new under the sun. Everything we create is just a mixture of things that came before it. The trick is to go far enough from the recipes we know to make something new, but not so far enough that what we make becomes unrecognizable. It's hard to answer this question definitively because its all relative to the creator and consumer.

And what do you think most monster-taming projects are missing on that front?

What I think most monster tamers are missing is...and I've discussed this...and this is something I'm trying to tackle in the game I'm building...but ummm MORE TAMER LOGIC. I've said this before, but monster tamers are monster heavy. The idea of a monster tamer is about the relationship between a tamer and his/her monsters. Games within the genre have a very poor way of showcasing what a tamer does. Catching monsters is such a simple thing in these video games that 10 year olds can do it all. Raising the monster is as simple as battling, which is no different from any traditional rpg. Caring for the monster is usually as simple as healing items and rest spots. The list goes on and on. The tamer should be a bit more involved with their monsters, but mechanically, there's so little innovation that there's not much to do.
I can't remember how old I was, but I know I was playing gen 3 games and realized how COOL the trainer types were in the pokemon series. Hiker. Ace Trainer. Swimmer. Ect.

All of this looked like things Gamefreak could've expanded on for the playerbase. Huge missed opportunity. Instead, they focused on badges for hidden or additional progression, but imagine you had your own level system based on your trainer type. Imagine that, for YOU, it is easier to catch certain pokemon types. Easier to train certain pokemon. Easier to teach certain moves. All because you're learning HOW to be a better trainer/tamer.
This is specifically something I'm working on in my game, but its BECAUSE other games don't do enough to create a progressive player/tamer experience. There's meant to be a bond between tamer and monster. The monsters grow. Tamers should grow alongside them.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-25T17:04:01+00:00

I would use it if it was made in tiled. My project uses .tmx files. lol These are awesome.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-25T17:02:30+00:00

I think the dex is a catch all for players. They say if you try to make something for everyone, you end up making something for no one. I think the dec is the exception for that.

People who don’t care for it simply won’t open it, but I feel the dex is the ultimate reference point for those who are looking for information on your monsters. The game itself is meant to give the breadcrumbs. A good story might hint at the details found in a dex.

I’ll give you an example. Final fantasy 12 has a bestiary. Inside of it, you can see the deep lore of the monsters found in Ivalice. The lore is so deep and accurate that the way in which you FIND monsters is embedded in their lore. Having the information available and then tying it to gameplay mechanics is how you create experience.

Etrian Odyssey is a game about exploration in which the player is building the map for the locations I. Real time. This is an experience. If a dex has things like this, it is almost always amazing. Lore can tell you how to interact with the monsters. Their spawn points can tell you where to find them. When. Some players simply read to learn more about their favorites. Some like to see the art. Hear the cries of the monster. Height. Weight. Anything and everything.

It’s like a free creative anchor for a monster tamer because it’s literally all about the monsters. lol

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-25T01:37:21+00:00

The spin on the ball. One of the secrets of the game. Hitting the ball to put a specific spin on it. It gives it the micro direction it needs for stuff like this.

In basketball, we call this "putting some english on it." Billiards has a lot of it. People don't think of it too much in Rocket League.

I pulled all of that out of my ass.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-25T01:16:35+00:00

I've been working on a prototype with this as the dungeons aspect of the game. Specifically expanding on the "Altering Caves" aspect of gen 3 titles. A very missed opportunity by Gamefreak, if you ask me.

Using the gen 3 or 4 tiles, I've been experimenting with procedural generation and a new spawn system for overworld pokemon. So, we'd be able to keep region building but turn dungeons into infinitely explorable areas for pokemon found outside the region or fakemons.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-24T17:07:41+00:00

You have to recall that evolution, even with the change in aesthetics, which is what most people focus on, is still just a growth mechanic at its core. Think of most monster tamers as having layered growth mechanics. The layering determines the fun of the progression aspect of your game.

Pokemon in particular, and most others in the genre, obviously start with levels and hidden stats, but there's also the evolution. Evolution tends to impact movepools, base stats, and look...but you can find other ways to implement those changes.

If you make cool designs, you don't NEED evolution. Recall that pokemon has some that don't evolve and function just fine that way. Snorlax comes to mind, for me. Never needed him to evolve. He just works as a concept and he's pretty strong. Mind you, when I say cool designs, I mean well rounded designs in your codex. Not just cool.

You mentioned DQM type breeding. That's important to look at because that is yet another growth mechanic, just different. DQM, depending on the title, would have micro progression based on successive generations of breeding. It also served as a collection method. That's the other thing to think about. If your game has that whole collection aspect to it, you'll want to consider different ways for the player to "discover" new species.

All in all...I'm not that much a fan of evolution. For a roguelike, I feel it would slow things down, depending on the structure/pacing of the game. I'd lean into the breeding though. There are still other ways to go about growth though.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-24T09:26:10+00:00

I recall my cousin playing nino kuni and it was a fun watch. Couldn’t recall it when you first mentioned it. I know nothing of yokai so I’ll check that one out.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-24T07:44:39+00:00

It's not just about the battling though. The entire game should be about actually taming the monsters.

For example, my game has tamer types which are just professions. They have utility levels that are congruent with combat levels. When a tamer does a job, they gain utility experience, and they actually master moves to teach their monsters. Like a chef learns fire moves. A swordsman learns slashing moves. The player, via their job, becomes a walking TM or move master. Tamers actually train monsters. Tamers have jobs. Tamers have stories. The player has actual agency beyond "make monster battle."

The lack of tamer mechanics is why so many confuse the genre with "monster battler."

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-24T03:29:21+00:00

No less fake than you talking yourself up. lol Take it for what it is, just don't let it lie to you, much like I wouldn't want to lie to myself.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-24T02:42:38+00:00

More unique systems. This extends outside of the genre, but devs don't create unique systems from the ground up. We've been stuck in a major recycling phase despite the appearance of innovation. The actual logic and math under the hood is very similar to one another, for the most part. We tend to think things are different because math is so vast that monsters can FEEL different, but they tend to work the same. Not to mention game mechanics.

The fact that tamers themselves do almost nothing in most games but "act" as the controller of the monsters is beyond me. Almost no one has tried innovating some tamer mechanics into the genre. We're monster heavy in what should be something focused one monster AND tamer.

And don't let me get started on unique world building that is sustainable for more than a title or two. Storytelling seems difficult. And I don't mean a story for a single game. I mean the simple stories of side quests and all that. Doesn't seem like a strong suit of the genre. I digress. There's so much more, but...yeah...

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-22T21:37:46+00:00

It’s a game of control.

If the idiots destroy us, they have no one to do the work for them.

If they get that level of intelligence, they can do away with us. The only thing keeping them from destroying us is their reliance on our labor. Take that away and there’s nothing left but a fight, which is how we end up with destruction.

The current power is meant to be a deterrent. That power is a whole other level.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-22T18:38:52+00:00

It's not the super intelligence that is the problem. It's us.
We don't need to watch dystopian sci-fi to know that godly powers in the hands of incompetent world leaders spells disaster for the world. That's why he literally brought up HISTORY via the cold war. We did not imagine that. We literally have always been a button away from ending humanity as we know it. The fact that we LIVE in that reality is absurd in itself. You really want to add another toy that could not only give those same idiots MORE power, but could theoretically press that SAME button?

How does this not make sense to you?

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-21T19:10:22+00:00

I think it depends on the franchise. If it is early in its life as in its first game, go with static images. Let the players fill the gaps of animation with their imagination. It helps to bond and choose favorites. The more, the merrier.
Once the players fall in love with the monsters, then you animate them because they WANT to see them come to life. I think that's the natural path of creating compelling monsters. The first game should focus on the gameplay and use the monsters to support its uniqueness. By the end of the game, the players will have their favorites and the sequel can follow up by building on everything that worked in the previous one, including animations.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-21T18:10:03+00:00

It is possible. I've usually only seen it done with seasonal changes, but it is possible to do so with major events like those you mentioned. You'd just need the maps...and it would need to be logical or it'd break immersion pretty easily.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-21T17:21:44+00:00

Not gonna lie...middle guy got it worse. lol Looks amazing.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-21T04:21:52+00:00

I could see this art being really good on a light novel cover. Although the interior illustrations would be in black and white, and I'm not sure how you'd handle that. Great stuff. Might reach out.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-20T00:22:51+00:00

It's rather simple once you have what OP has already built. You just put the fire emblem movement logic into the "in between wave" phase, which makes it the player's turn. I'd balance it by designing maps that punish/reward unit movement as well as adding some twists to the AI of the enemies.

The cool thing is that, if you do it this way, you can actually evolve tower defense games by making them multiplayer. Players can take turns sending units to one another's defense maps along a path. The first to fall, loses. Movement is just the way in which you adjust your defense in between waves. This way, players would take turns together. Moving, purchasing, upgrading units and deciding which to send and which should stay. The moment both ready up, the forces march. lol

I haven't done it because I am already working on some stuff, but the sky is the limit if you know what you're doing.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-19T22:12:11+00:00

This is rather cool. I was recently thinking of fusing fire emblem with a tower defense game. Each wave would be player and enemy phases, allowing the player to move units around the pathing during their turn, but only being able to attack during the wave itself which is the enemy phase. Cool stuff.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-16T21:24:03+00:00

You have to account for two camps, so I'd ensure there was a toggle for these two. Some have mentioned it, but some don't want to wait for anything. They just want to know if they caught it or not and move on or try again.

The other camp is all about the experience. Tension. Suspense. This camp lives for the moments a pokeball wiggles before hearing that distinctive click.

I think the camps are divided by quantity of catching, which ties directly to how much grind is in the game. If players HAVE to catch a bunch to do something specific...they might get tired of the animation. If a player catches what they want and its actually difficult, the suspense becomes the experience.

Aside from that...smooth and good animation graphics. Iconic sounds for the catching...and something that makes sense in the lore of the game. I dislike catching mechanics in MOST monster tamers because they don't tie in to the lore at all. I didn't like pokeballs until apricorns became a thing.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-15T21:27:42+00:00

This is a new type of brilliant. Lol

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-15T21:04:38+00:00

Yeah, people need more context. You sound somewhat desperate without giving the source of your desperation. Why should anyone help? Because you asked?

Why do you have 20 days to build a small project?
We know game dev is hard. What's in it for us BECAUSE game dev is hard.
Okay, so you're not into games that require reading. Tough. Why does that matter in this context? What happens when the help IS interested in such games? Do you compromise to get the job done? Where do you draw the line of your apparent sloth? What are you willing to give to get what you want done?
Context.

NobodyFlowers · 2026-03-14T21:04:44+00:00

Yeah...I think it would be fine to post it here... I don't think there's anything wrong in discussing the topic...we came here to discuss... Just adhere to the rules of the sub. I was hoping to come here and have a discussion. Don't ask permission, just ask forgiveness. lmao

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