Not having to kill the enemies is a commendable idea, but that is typically the method by which a player can add to their skills and 'hit points'. I guess there might be other (more creative) ways to strengthen the protagonist and their team, as the enemies gain power. I love the idea of sneaking around enemies or trapping them... make sure you leave those elements in. I much prefer the covert style of gameplay to confronting a room full of enemies at once. I'll abandon a game if the adrenaline rush is excessive. I guess that's why I prefer turn-based or other strategy to first person games. Some games (e.g. Evil Genius) offer characters who can distract or divert enemies, for example with charisma or by confusing them somehow. If there's a magical element to the game, you could lure enemies to "dummy" (mirage-like) characters and trap them that way. In Alpha Centauri, Dierdre can 'harness' the native locusts and flora and turn them against her enemies. I really liked that idea, and it offered a kind of attack that the (human) enemies couldn't match. I really like this thread of discussion. I've never before met anyone involved in game design. I'll stay keenly tuned to any further posts. :) Kathryn <div>On 28/02/2008, Thierry <<a href="mailto:psyping@gmail.com">psyping@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> I was originally hoping for gameplay where no enemy hat do die, but that idea was quickly thrown away, as it would take too much scripting and planning, and because killing stuff is something of a standard in games. Enemies crawling away at the last moment might still be something good for the creepier levels, though - the "I know something is here, but I can't see it" factor. :) However, I don't think I should worry about this all too much - the player always (again, except for boss battles) gets the choice between sneaking past enemies and attacking them, and there are a lot of puzzles, especially in the middle of the game. </blockquote></div>