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This is nutty, I love it. One word of caution, I wouldn't mention the word Tetris anywhere, just use "falling block classic game" or whatever else, as it's one
by keyle 3y ago
This is nutty, I love it.
One word of caution, I wouldn't mention the word Tetris anywhere, just use "falling block classic game" or whatever else, as it's one of the most trigger happy IP I know of after Nintendo.
That said it's so far detached from the original you might be fine.
- thomastjeffery 3y agoThey could just wait until they get a complaint and change it then. There's no reason to just avoid the name outright.
- sillysaurusx 3y agoA dmca counter claim takes at least 14 long days to respond with. In the meantime, your vitality will dry up. Trademark infringement is a bit different, since there’s no analogue to the dmca process. But it’s pretty reasonable to want to avoid the hassle by just changing a few words. (What is the expected litigation route for trademark claims anyway? Can they knock a project offline, or just send a strongly worded lawyer letter?)
- ale42 3y ago> (What is the expected litigation route for trademark claims anyway? Can they knock a project offline, or just send a strongly worded lawyer letter?) IANAL, but I would expect a cease-and-desist letter or the national equivalent depending on the country you're living in. Usually you have a short delay to remediate, or risk getting sued.
- Biganon 3y agoEven a word that sounds like Tetris, such as Setris, can be enough for a trademark issue
- fuzzythinker 3y agoI like ugh's suggestion - Sandtris
- thund 3y agoSandrise, should be far enough and still close enough
- userbinator 3y agoOr as the Chinese seem to like to call it, "Russia block".
- keyle 3y agoYeah block stacking, physics based line assembling, all sorts of names. Everyone is very careful not to say the word Tetris. Same with the Zelda word...
- doodpants 3y agoThere used to be a Tetris clone for Mac called Quinn. The web site for the game said: "Quinn is an implementation of a popular falling-blocks game which, according to the Tetris Company, must not be named here."
- chromoblob 3y agoBRICK GAME
- zelphirkalt 3y agoReminds me of "Brix".
- DemocracyFTW2 3y agoLego enters the chat
- zelphirkalt 3y agoNot sure if Lego has something called "Brix", but I was referring to the DOS games.
- DemocracyFTW2 3y agoOIC
- nurettin 3y agoHave you tried writing a Rubik's cube game? They hire professional law firms to go after you.
- keyle 3y agoNo, I didn't know that it was also a touchy one, thanks.
- User23 3y agoAlso "Magic 8 Ball" is an invocation that will summon Hasbro's lawyers from the nether realms.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- quickthrower2 3y agoSo all the otherwise easy to copy ideas that rely on the brand to make money. Makes sense.
- actionfromafar 3y agoIt IS magic after all.
- programmarchy 3y agoSaw that one of my kids had a knock-off named Mystical Magic Orb and wondered if the ridiculous name was designed to work around trademark issues.
- hsjqllzlfkf 3y agoStory time?
- zakki 3y agoSandblock is a good name.
- King-Aaron 3y agoI'd suggest 'Bricksand' as it sounds kind of like Quicksand
- RockyMcNuts 3y agoSandstorm
- thegabriele 3y agoI suggest Darude as an alternative, memeish, name.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- yoyopa 3y agoso your advice is basically, go ahead and make your derivative tetris game but just call it something else?
- echelon 3y ago> so your advice is basically, go ahead and make your derivative tetris game but just call it something else? Every game is derivative. Almost every human thought and action is. The language you speak. Your opinions. Even your preferences are shaped by things you've seen and copied. If you said that every game (or whatever) must pay the predecessors for every mechanic they reused, we'd be left with nothing but taxes to be paid to the dead and retired. Those no longer carrying the torch forward.
- chromoblob 3y agoI don't think that many thoughts are derivative. One certainly doesn't learn thinking by imitation, at least in early childhood and not directly in later life stages. Yes, many "library-like" algorithms (those for simple and narrow, well-understood tasks) are derivative, but there is much other thinking - "fluid" thinking as a whole, and also many particular small tricks / heuristics that are discovered independently by many smart individuals.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- keyle 3y agoThat is not my advice, and this is not a rip off.
- hgsgm 3y agoYes, that was clearly stated. Are you trying to insinuate something?
- yard2010 3y agoIt doesn't matter what you do it only matters how you frame it
- tim_hutton 3y agoSandy Crush
- bena 3y agoJust looking at the gameplay video, they have a bit of work to do to avoid a DMCA request from maybe both The Tetris Company (I think that’s the name) and Nintendo. The game lifts a lot of design elements from the Game Boy version of Tetris. Clearly to evoke the nostalgia. Down to specific graphical elements like the style of the blocks and fonts used. The Tetris Company would have a point here. The game wants you to think of a very specific version of Tetris. I forget where Nintendo exactly was involved in the game, but it’s possible they hold some rights to the Game Boy version as well. I’d strip out all the Game Boy elements. I doubt you’d get by on a parody claim.
- dcuthbertson 3y agoBricks of Dune is a silly name I just thought up. On second thought, it reminds me of sand art in glass jars, just more dynamic.
- frankfrankfrank 3y agoAmmatis - Combines the Greek for sandy soil with tennis, as a reference and nod to its technology and game legacy.
- otterpro 3y agoTetris has become so universal that it feels like a generic term, similar to how we usually say Kleenex instead of tissue and chapstick instead of lip balm. "Setris" sounds fine as name of the game, although I also like "Sandtris", which sounds less similar to Tetris, and probably less likely for IP issue.
- smeyer 3y agoIt's interesting that you chose Kleenex and Chapstick, because both are still protected trademarks in the US. Competitors to Kleenex still market themselves as tissues and competitors to Chapstick still use lip balm. If you try using the brand names on your Amazon listing or what have you, you'll get a cease and desist letter.
- remram 3y ago7 days later, it's been DMCA'd. The notice mentions the music, which is weird because I didn't hear any music in the gameplay videos posted here.
- 39399339939393 3y ago[flagged]