Nonviolent and Alternative mechanics
itsamoose
I've been interested recently in playing and really researching games that primarily don't involve violent mechanics, mechanics designed around a theme, or ...
Idle Forums
I've been interested recently in playing and really researching games that primarily don't involve violent mechanics, mechanics designed around a theme, or perhaps a unique take on traditional mechanics. I've managed to find a few of these such as Cart Life and Papers, Please, but beyond a few of the more well known ones I really don't know where to look. I was hoping that some of you know of some games/designers/companies that do this kind of thing, and perhaps could use this thread as a way to discuss the topic in general.

So far I've been compiling a list based on recommendations of friends:

Cart Life

Papers, Please

Crusader Kings 2

Maniac Mansion (I've heard a bit about this but can't seem to find a working version)

Beyond good and evil

Racing-games, sports-games, simulation-games, dating-sims, match-three games, traversal-games, and exploration-games all focus on non-violent mechanics. I'm interested in helping you narrow down what you are looking for though. Are you looking for games that have explicit fail-states that are non-violent?

I was thinking more along the lines of something that can't necessarily be defined by a genre such as papers please, or is a unique twist on one such as Crusader Kings' idea where you can't conquer an area without a claim to it. Beyond that, I'm interested in playing around with some games that add some unique rule or situation the player must interact with. I'm not so much interested in the goal of the game, rather ones where the play deviates significantly from what you would expect. At the shallow end I suppose something like Majora's mask would qualify, and on the deeper end something almost entirely abstract. A lack of violence isn't necessarily required, just a starting point for something that is different.

I would recommend Portal and PuzzleQuest or PuzzleQuest2 (I'm not sure which one would be a better introduction, but you probably won't want to play both of them). Portal turns a first-person shooter into one of the most engaging puzzle-games I've ever played. PuzzleQuest uses the match-three game mechanics in combination with RPG upgrades and abilities. So at first it is like any match-three, but as you choose which skills and equipment to upgrade, the player develops very specific strategies that completely change the way you will look at the board. PuzzleQuest 2 has a much more polished everything, but it felt too easy after obsessing over PuzzleQuest. I'm not sure if PuzzleQuest's story was better or if I was just feel nostalgia for the first game.

You might find some interesting examples if you look into serious/educational games. Often games intended to be educational will translate violent mechanics into non-violent ones, like how hunting in Oregon Trail became taking pictures of animals in Amazon Trail (though I have no idea if the violence was why it changed). Math teaching games also tend to have interesting mechanics that you wouldn't see in 'standard' games since people paying for games as entertainment most likely don't want to be using their brains too much.

(by a local developer here) has a unique addition based puzzle mechanic for defeating enemies, and if you looked at the multitude of small games in a Math Blaster or similar series' there would be probably dozens of neat little logic puzzles and math problems converted into mini games.

Some other interesting examples might be the work of another local indie studio, Subaltern Games, who made Neocolonialism (a game about amassing wealth to the detriment of everyone else "Many strategy games have featured traditional colonialism and warfare but few have explored the brutal reality of greed and indirect political control in the 21st century." quote from here) and is now developing No ********* Left Behind, which was described to me as "Prison Architect, but about schools"

edit: also Zoombinis

I made a game where you protect someone you love by holding up the sun : http://graysoneevans.itch.io/15012015

when ever I design a game the only thing I think of what I am trying to convey and the best way of doing that without just making a "kill x" mechanic

There are a seemingly infinite number of puzzle, adventure and exploration games that fit the bill, so I'll name a few from more unexpected genres.

Kerbal Space Program is a game about designing rockets and going into space (or frequently, having a bad problem and not going to space today).

Offworld Trading Company is a 4X game, only with no military component. You build a base, buy and sell resources on an open market, and eventually win by outmaneuvering your opponents economically and buying out their companies. You can pay to perform acts of industrial sabotage, but I wouldn't call it violent, and if it weren't for that mechanic, there wouldn't even be any conflict in the game besides the final buyout.

I'd also be inclined to count Minecraft as nonviolent. Sure you can hit a zombie with a sword, but it's very much not about that, and many players completely disregard those systems (either by playing on Peaceful, or just avoiding monsters by only going out in the daytime).

EDIT: There's also the "construction genre", whatever term you'd like to use that encompasses Sim City and Rollercoaster Tycoon, the games where you build stuff to make money roll in to build more stuff.

Impressions Games' city building games do have wars, but I believe many of the games have a choice whether you take over a peaceful city or a city with a military. In any case the vast majority of the mechanics are built around trade, happiness and access to resources.

Startopia is similar but there's more of a focus on bad actors in that game, so you do have some violence as criminals are subdued and jailed.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, they've been a big help. Mainly the problem is that I'm sure games like this exist (as you have all pointed out) but I don't know where to find out about them since most websites are more geared to AAA game feature analysis (That's a nice way of saying 2 page stories about the newest gun in a shooter).

Something else I came across the other day is superhot, a first person shooter where time only moves when you do.

As Clyde said, Portal is a great non-violent game. There are a lot of other Portalesque non-violent shooters out there as well: Proteus, The Stanley Parable and Antichamber.

My suggestions would be Eufloria and Starseed Pilgrim

If you want to find out about them, why not watch Lets Plays and deconstruct them. Once you have done this a few times and developed a formula it is easy to see what they have in common. I do this with a lot of games as I just don't have enough time to play all the greats anymore.

This is something I think about a lot too, because it would be pretty cool if there were more games out there without violence. I believe it's a huge turn-off for a lot of people who otherwise might get into games.

Unfortunately, my design wheelhouse seems to be in action/arcade games which are maybe the most prone to combat/violence... And any abstraction of combat just seems to be just a bit silly.

Flower is a great example, maybe classic arcade stuff like Tapper too. Sorting and tidying up seem like good themes (Chibi Robo anyone?)

Anyone else have good examples of action/arcade stuff?

Thanks for the video link, didn't know they even had this show. Crayon Physics, Quantum Conundrum, The Stanley Parable or the Vanishing of Ethan Carter are the 4 in my steam list that I've never had to do anything violent in, although I haven't made it all the way through the last one so who knows what's in store for me?

PBS Game Show (aka Jamin from Kill Screen) weighed in on this recently

Some interesting thoughts. Pinball is violent!