Novelty is a rare gem in games today. Too often, the industry sees repeats of the same formula: the same old 2D platformers and turn-based RPGs simply wrapped in a new set of shiny graphics. And while these structures are time-tested and sure to hold, a little creativity and surprise can go a long way to adding to the gaming experience.
Back in my early days, I stumbled upon a keyword that has since developed into the backbone of my design philosophy: the gimmick. Merriam-Webster calls it “an ingenious or novel mechanical device,” but this “gadget” can take various forms. Whether a core element of game mechanics, a twist on a storytelling trope, or a novel aesthetic choice, it is present in almost any example of good game design.
Take the gravity-bending VVVVVV. Rather than the typical “jump” mechanic, designer Terry Cavanagh replaced it with a “gravity reversal” button, a single concept that transformed the entire genre. Pokemon borrowed from RPG tropes, but added the ability to catch and train the very enemies you battled. Fez grabbed a 2D sprite and gave it the power to rotate in 3D space, bringing its generic platform world into a higher dimension. And one of my favorite series, The Legend of Zelda, incorporated one new tool per dungeon, like the boomerang or hookshot, that was necessary to solve the puzzles and defeat the boss. Each of these gimmicks is remarkably clean and simple, yet effected a completely unique experience.
I’ve since incorporated these ideas into my own game design. Great gimmicks are simple and fit easily into one-liners, an excellent way to brainstorm. I find the best gimmicks result from questioning assumed facts in game structures. For example, the entire design for Retrograde arose from a single question: what if a player in a platformer traveled left instead of right and lost powers instead of gaining them?
Finding new fun can be a challenge when almost any idea is recycled from some game out in the ether. Brainstorming creative gimmicks, let alone fun, is no easy task. But by focusing on a single twist instead of looking for quantity of features, a simpler game can outshine the complex.
Ivan Wang 
I guess this is an underlying reason why particular games are more popular than others. Every example you’ve quoted, did something unique. There has almost never been the case where an average game has topped the charts or become popular. But there have been games with great mechanics which don’t see the light of day sometimes. I guess the industry is slowly moving out of areas where decision making is being made by the stake-holders and decision making is being done by those with creative control. Its nice to see companies like Ubisoft dedicating themselves in building studios like Ubi-Art who experiment with new games and mechanics while their usual titles like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed churn regular income.
It sounds like another very interesting and simple way to be creative. I appreciate the examples you have used and I also am another fan of twisting norms. That is a great way to design not only games but also any experiences. Hope you keep making some creative gimmick games.
Gimmick is not normally a word that I would use to praise a game’s unique mechanics, but under your definition the word makes sense. I personally think that in order to succeed a game has to do something different than its predecessors, otherwise it will just be lost and forgotten among all the other games released in a year. Essentially the problem that you raise is that its really hard to think of an entirely new genre, which I agree with entirely. Coming up with a type of game that no one has ever thought of before is normally predicated by new technology. Until that happens it will be interesting to see what kind of gimmicks are successful in games until the industry moves forward.