Hear hear!
3 Likes
Getting out of bed. There are a remarkable number of games where the first move is “stand up”.
Games where you have to get out of bed from your small cabin on a space cruiser are a sub genre of this, which did not end with Starcross.
5 Likes
One more for the list: Wishbringer is a familiar environment to you, the character, and you’re given a map in the feelies. (Though there are a few ways in which areas open up or change that take some exploring later on.)
3 Likes
Yes! This is a good one to bring up. They are generally aligned with stories in other media that follow a day in the life of the protagonist.
I’ve always found this one a gamble, since a disconnect between protagonist and player knowledge can be jarring (or interesting!), but lots of games do it very well.
4 Likes
Room escapes, or games that start in a jail cell or with the PC confined in some way. This happens often enough that I’m not sure if it should be considered a trope or a sub-genre. Even “stuck floating in space” or “adrift in the ocean” starts could be argued as a version of room escape as all of space or the ocean could be considered one room as far as IF is concerned.
4 Likes