#im trying to workshop this thesis into something I can make a proper essay about

[tommycorriander]

"metroidbrainia" is stupid because "metroidvania" refers to games taking elements from both castlevania and super metroid; there are no "castlebrainia" games. Calling games "knowledge based" is inherently backwards because every game requires some amount of knowledge to use and is in general clunky phrasing. I propose we instead call these games "deduction games". The criteria for the games people want to call "metroidbrainias/knowledge based" comes down to some level of gameplay that can only be completed once due to the nature of puzzle solving within, but with puzzles that are more based in reasoning skills than with spacial play. A line connection puzzle would not be a deduction game, but Outer Wilds would be. This also allows for the "deduction puzzle game" which combines elements of a traditional puzzle game with deduction elements, where the input of the puzzles is spacial but understanding where to input or how the pieces mesh together is drawn from deductions about the environment around you.