Design Concept: Hammer & Nail Simulator a.k.a SMASHY!

A few weeks back I lampooned the clicker genre as being a pseudo-game. To correct any offense I may have inflicted on dedicated clickheads, I am going to spend the next few weeks presenting little design blurbs for my own take on the genre.

In H&NS, you play the role of a hammer, smashing nails into planks in order to hold the together and build a massive superstructure. It starts out simple; you frame a wall, then 3 more walls, and then a rooftop for a house. But then you starting adding extra floors, towers, and incorporating steel beams. As the materials advance, the nails get heavier and stronger and require more and more clicks, in more specific areas, to drive them through and support the building. To add a bit of intrigue, each nail has a limited time-window to smash it in; while at the same time, being careful to get accurate, central strikes onto the nailhead is important for structural integrity. The game will remember little kinks in your nail-smashes, and as you progress through the game your tower will begin to teeter if you rushed. I guess eventually you go to outer space. As you progress, you can buy upgrades to the hammer, like pneumatic pumps and targeting systems...

but the most important, core principle, is the total mockery of the fact that ALL YOU DO IS CLICK.