yeh! its awesome

is it because there are less expectations of reusing a system, and when you do get like an IP-Monopoly people clearly understand its monopoly skinned as that IP not an experience linked to it... if that makes sense

Attempting to even do a solo lancer - well thats a challenge that could be fun as a designer - but not doing that hard work, just makes the general person think any game can be soloed, and thus ignores the specific design challenges of solo games!
Its the indie version of using 5e for any genre

*feature not function

I would define gimmick as a unique function of the game where novelty is found in its existence alone - games with gimmicks can end up not being gimmicky in the future when their gimmick becomes more mainstream. Also the early adopters tend to hyperfocus or resolve around their gimmick.

its the mix of wanting interesting mechanics (even if their narrative - i dont see why people see those things as being contradictory) and also... I am a writer, its what i study! I dont want my downtime from writing to be more writing.

oh thats sick!

one of my all time favourites