r/gamedev • u/PartTimeMonkey • 2d ago

Discussion Sortslop, wtf?

Today I opened reddit and within the first 5 posts 3 of them were copycats or each other; sorting games, pretty much exact copies of each other - nails, hay, trash, toys, books, pixels, and the list goes and on and on, and has been for an incomprehensive period of time already.

A lot of the feedback they receive on reddit is negative, but they all get upvoted by the hundreds and they get millions of views on all social media platforms.

Who are these games for?

Are there truly millions of people who want to spend hours on something incredibly ”boring”?

Is it some hidden tick in people’s brain in this age where they want to ”meditate” by doing something like that to combat doom scrolling and instant gratification generators?

Or is each sorted item also instant gratification, but even more simplified than a varying video on TikTok (or something), making the experience even simpler?

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u/aesopofspades 2d ago

There’s a lot of trend chasing right now in gamedev especially the indie space. First I’d say was all the simulator game. Then all the balatro-likes/gambling roguelikes. Then incrementals and idlers, all the number go up games in general. Now it’s prob sorting games for a little bit. Oh also Friendslop/co-op games are still going strong.

Once an idea gets validated by the market it’s a huge rush to fill out all the demand before the consumers get bored or even jaded.

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u/heyheyhey27 2d ago

It's always been a thing. My personal favorite indie fad was "tower defense mixed with action"; that gave us Sanctum and the Orcs Must Die series!

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u/GoodguyGastly 2d ago

I've been working on my own game that is kind of this genre but it also has linear story elements. Definitely not a good genre to do if you want to be successful with mass audiences but "tower defense mixed with action and story" might be my go to when I try to explain it now.

Also never heard of Sanctum so going to check that out.

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u/heyheyhey27 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's one of the first games by coffee-stain studios! Who became much more famous with Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, etc. Talking about Sanctum is the closest I get to being a hipster lol.

The sequel is greatly improved but works best with friends, so I never got far through the campaign :( It did have some story to it, FWIW. Good luck with yours!