A something of something... game names

[PompiPompi]

Are there RPG game title names that a developer should avoid?
Something of the format:
"A something of something"
Is it ok or too long?

 

[Quilty]

I'd say as long as you're not using made-up words or words that have ambiguous pronunciation, it's okay. Personally, I prefer short, 3 words max titles. The reason why I dislike made-up words in titles is that your average player will probably not be able to remember them when they go to search for your title, unless it's a really catchy word or is reminiscent of some real word. I'd say definitely avoid "Word: Word" titles, those are just ridiculous unless it's a sequel to a well-known title.

 

[LannTheStupid]

"Anthem".

 

[d1r]

Golden ...
... Fall

 

[rusty_shackleford]

unless it has moonrunes in the title I don't care what it is

 

[bionicman]

You might find this article informative: https://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/02/the_name_of_the.html

 

[Zarniwoop]

Are there RPG game title names that a developer should avoid?
Something of the format:
"A something of something"
Is it ok or too long?

I believe George RR Martin owns the trademark to all "an X of X" titles

 

[PompiPompi]

Ok, so I have thought of a name... but not sure which format.
While the format I like is kind of 4 words.

"A Gift of War"

or

"Gifts of War"

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Ok, so I have thought of a name... but not sure which format.
While the format I like is kind of 4 words.

"A Gift of War"

or

"Gifts of War"

Those make me think of 'secondary titles' or expansion titles. Like:

• Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
• Gothic 2: Night of the Raven
• Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
• Quest for Glory 2: Trials of Fire

 

[PompiPompi]

But then you have a game like "God of War"
I don't think all those title names are that good to be honest. lol.

Edit: Single word titles can be great, if the word is good.
The word "War" is not so good in a title, it's pretty common(according to what I read), but Gift is kind of unique at this point.

 

[bionicman]

Witcher = a game about being a witcher
Gothic = a game with a gothic aesthetic
Baldur's Gate = a game which features this location
Quest for Glory = a game which is about a quest for glory

Gift of War = a game about... ???

In my opinion, this title isn't any better than golden fall. It should be something that makes sense, at least within the context of the game (e.g. how Baldur's Gate makes sense within the game).

And, also, the title should be consistent with the rest of the game. So, when I think "gift of war", in my mind it's some sort of strategy game about, I don't know, medieval or ancient warfare.

The visual style of your game, on the other hand, is more of a light-hearted adventure of sorts. Reminds me a bit of UnEpic and Dungeons of Dredmor:

So, maybe come up with a title similar to those?

 

[PompiPompi]

It's "A Gift of War".
Also, visuals are now 3D and more "realistic/gritty" kind of.

A Gift of War is more meaningful than "Golden Fall", which is kind of weird, because, either it's about peeing, or it sounds like Golden Falls, like a place or something.

A Gift of War describe some actual thing, like a gift given during war, or the war is the gift. also conflicting, because a Gift is something people like, but war not so much.

 

[Thac0]

Golden Fall made me think about an autumn flavored rpg, with golden leaves falling off trees, and I was very disappointed when I checked the Steam page it was just about some children in a basement.
Also it would be a very clever title for an autumn rpg, given that autumnos means golden, and fall is the inofficial title for the season.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Gothic = a game with a gothic aesthetic

?

 

[RobotSquirrel]

You might find this article informative: https://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/02/the_name_of_the.html

Good article but this ones an issue.

Short names are better than long names

Good luck actually trademarking it and good luck actually finding one that hasn't already been taken. Then also good luck defending it because its too similar sounding to another popular game.
That's been my experience thus far. That's why I'm avoiding shorter names.

 

[Ninjerk]

One must be careful with the names of roleplaying game games

 

[Quilty]

And, also, the title should be consistent with the rest of the game. So, when I think "gift of war", in my mind it's some sort of strategy game about, I don't know, medieval or ancient warfare.

Absolutely this. A Gift of War immediately makes me think of strategy games. Do not call it that if it's a roguelike because that title is misleading.

 

[J1M]

"Sewer Crawl"

 

[J1M]

"MAD Sewer"

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I'd say simplicity is just as important as the meaning behind it.

Going down the list of games in my steam library and picking a few out(either because bad or good):

• Aarklash: Legacy. Terrible! What is an Aarklash? Why does it have a legacy?
• The Age of Decadence. OK. Conveys the overall setting of the game in four words.
• ATOM RPG. It would have been better as just 'ATOM', and looked quite nice in a stylized format.
• The Bard's Tale. Goes in the same basket as Age of Decadence.
• Bound By Flame. Who is bound by flame? What does that even mean? If I have to play the game to understand the title, it's a poor title.
• Caves of Qud. OK title for a roguelike, there's caves and they're either named after or owned by Qud.
• Dead State. OK, conveys the meaning of the game, same basket as Bard's Tale and AoD.
• Demonicon. What the shit is a demonicon? Terrible!
• Dex. Despite having no idea what it means, I wouldn't put this in the 'terrible' group simply because it's short and unique. See above about brevity.
• Dungeons of Dredmor. Same group as Caves of Qud.
• Enderal: What's an enderal? Terrible!
• Fallout: The first one I'd call perfect. It manages to do what the AoD group does, but is short and sweet. There are very few titles that fall into this category(e.g., Doom.) If ATOM RPG was just 'ATOM', it would probably go here too.

And so on.

With regards to sequels:
If you pull some alien/aliens/alien 3 bullshit, you can go fuck yourself

 

[deem]

I agree with this sentiment. Fallout, Hitman, Thief - great titles. They succinctly capture the essence of the game. As for the subtitles (A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, Codename 47, The Dark Project), they do seem superfluous.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Arcanum.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Arcanum.

The shortened title is much better than the full one(Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura)

 

[Gastrick]

Should be 1 word, or 2 words max.

A big thing to watch out for is having a title that is forgettable. A title like the Wayward Realms is boring and would be forgotten quickly. On the other hand, a title like Grimoire is immediately memorable and leaves an impression.

 

[Lithium Flower]

A lot of really vacuous advice in this thread. You are giving the man a lot of gut feelings and vague generalities but almost no specific advice.

From the dev's question we can assume he is trying to come up with a marketable title to boost sales of his game. That means we are dealing with numbers, which demand an empirical approach. Fortunately, this sort of financially data is easily quantifiable and readily available; it is only logical that for a shot at an all-time top seller, he should name his game Minecraft.