Game Mashup Idea

After a long time of deciding which games to choose, I have finally selected to mashup Space Invaders with Hangman.

The gameplay will be very simple and almost similar to the original Space Invaders. The objective of the game is to guess the word (like in Hangman). However, the way you select letters is different. The attacking aliens will drop random letters. To select a letter you want to form part of the word, you must let the letter fall to the ground. You can shoot any unwanted letters before they land on the ground. If an incorrect letter lands, the aliens will move down closer to the player.

A sketch of the game is below.

Rough game sketch - the word to guess is 'Telephone'

Another idea I could add is that the letters fall in designated columns. This might add an extra challenge.

For the physical input/interaction, I am thinking about using an old Konami Justifier gun for the PlayStation 1. I cut it's wire a long time ago so I could use it as a pretend gun and run around with it back when I was a young lad.

Konami Justifier Gun for the PlayStation

Shooting will be easy since all that is required is to trigger a click/key press upon the squeezing of the gun's trigger. The only problem with this is how to control the movement of the player. The gun does have two extra buttons (one on the side and on the rear), but I don't think it will be intuitive or easy to use to control movement with them.

For the next few days I will be working on my Video Prototype. I'm thinking about either doing stagnant mockups or even an animated mockup of the game. I will also need to think about what other content I need to explain my idea.