The talk about an upcoming playmobil game in another thread made me think about the potential there is for playmobil games.
The key is making a game that appeals to children as well as adults, that way the target market is a lot bigger, and parents won't just be playing the game with their kids to do them a favour but would actually enjoy it, which means they be easier persuaded to buy the game.
Lego has proven to be succesfull with lego star wars, showing that it can be done. Sad part about them is that they keep repeating the same formula with every game they released afterwards, with minimal improvements and changes. Characters and enviroments are different, but those games are all pretty much the same.
While playmobil does not use licenses, they do have a lot to offer. Clickies are far more detailed than lego, and the greater amount of detail possible in their objects can also be used to full advantage.
By playing it smart, they could look for "gaps" in the videogame market, if a game pretty much creates its own genre it instantly eliminates any direct competition.
Take pirate games for example. When do you ever see any? they can be counted on one hand probably. Quite odd considering that it has so much potential.
If playmobil would develop a videogame where you get to sail around islands looking for treasure and establishing hide outs with your own pirate ship for which you get to assemble a crew, it would fill a gap in the market.
By paying tribute to all playmobil pirates they ever released by including all of it, they would capture the attention of parents as well if they played with playmobil, and for anyone it would simply offer a great deal of variation as well.
First you could just have a small pirate ship, without a cabin and later a bigger one. Focus could mostly be on adventure and not raiding towns. The pirates should be shown as treasure seekers and not criminals. They could still be outrunning soldiers but that could more be from a rivalry to both be trying to find the same treasure.
A castle build game could also prove very popular, the stronghold games prove there is a demand for it, and they keep making huge mistakes the fans arent happy about. Playmobil has the detail to make beautifull castles in ways lego could never do due to the smooth stones. And since the pieces are bigger, all it would need would be easy to use controlls to allow children to build their own castle with ease.
Once the castle is done, there could be jousting tournaments, festivities, the occasional battle and more. It could be a great educational game that could teach children about medieval life.
