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Geek Culture / Help me find a good name for my game!

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_Pauli_
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Posted: 15th Nov 2015 10:43 Edited at: 15th Nov 2015 10:44
Hi folks,

so I've got this game project going on for a long time now, but I'm struggling to find the perfect name for it. It is a winter sports game where self expressing gameplay elements (freestyle moves, style of snowboarding/skiing, slope creation in a specialized editor, character customization) are very important. Another central aspect are beautiful alpine landscapes and nature.

The name should somehow incorporate these characteristics in a short but unique name. Some inspirational keywords:
alpine, snow, style, sports, snowboarding, skiing, winter, ice, powder, riding, air, culture, mountain, nature, tricks, action

These two are my favorites at the moment:



I think the first one kind of gets the idea across almost perfectly. The alp-part represents the mountainous landscape and nature, whereas flow stands for the fluent moves while riding down the slopes and doing tricks one after the other. Also it's short and would potentiall allow for some cool logo designs and a simple URL. I'm almost settled on this, but I need the opinions of other (maybe native English) people first. What do you think?

Any comments or ideas are very welcome as I'm about to open up a development blog about this project so a good name is required.
Play Super Footie Online: SuperFootie.com

Development News: Forum Thread
Van B
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Posted: 16th Nov 2015 09:53
Why not just 'Flow'?

I'm not sure Alpine-anything provides a catchy name for a game like this, I'd suggest something snappy, like Flow, Down, Drop, Descend... that sort of thing. I think you want to conjure up an image of hipster snowboarders hurtling down a mountain with go-pro's and fist bumps and random, tortured surfing terms... the word alpine only reminds me of toilet cleaner.
mr Handy
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Posted: 16th Nov 2015 14:57 Edited at: 16th Nov 2015 18:32
How about

[Platinum Series] Alpine Snow Action Style Sports® — Snowboarding and Skiing! Mountain Tricks: Ice and Air™ [Winter Nature Riding Culture Edition], The

See attachment.

p.s. Oh snap! I forgot the "powder" Sorry.

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wattywatts
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Posted: 16th Nov 2015 17:35
Here's a page with snowboarder speak. https://gnu7.wordpress.com/snowboarding-lingo/
I always liked the name Cool Boarders; of course that's taken but I'd go for something like that.
bitJericho
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Posted: 17th Nov 2015 12:51
alpine spirit actually sounds awesome. You should trust your intuition. As to it sounding like cleaner, Alpine out where I live is a brand of car radios that, while gaudy, are supposed to be sweet. I've never heard of it as a toilet bowl cleaner. I would go with it as the name connotations are often regional anyway.
Van B
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Posted: 17th Nov 2015 13:58
Hehe, a great many cleaning products are pine scented, and there's probably a good few 80's and 90's TV adds in the UK that conjure up dark green cleaning products whenever the word Alpine is mentioned.

Anyways, the best name for a snowboarding game is taken, twice in fact... I made a snowboard game (my first DB game in fact) called 'Stoked', awesome name - I was thinking of making a sequel a while ago called Stoked Mountain (mountain biking this time, no boards). But some publisher came along with the name Stoked for their XB360 snowboarding game, buggers. I wonder what would happen if I actually made Stoked Mountain - cease and desist case I'm sure of it. Maybe Alpine Spirit is a good name for it, I kinda imagine a more sandbox style game with that, where you have a lot of freedom, maybe a really big game world with a lot to do in it... it doesn't suit a standard snowboard game that is competition based... personally I'd rather play a sandbox style game with exploring and maybe even designing your own courses, like with GTA5 races. Experienced snowboarders seem to prefer finding their own tracks and avoiding the crowds. I guess a lot depends on your target audience.

Maybe an idea to watch some snowboard videos for inspiration, listen to their lingo, and see if a word or phrase pops out that you can use - then don't tell anyone, because if you think of a real cool name for a snowboard game, someone will nab it!
_Pauli_
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Posted: 18th Nov 2015 08:49 Edited at: 18th Nov 2015 08:54
Thanks for the input guys!

Quote: "Why not just 'Flow'?"


Yeah that's short and would get the freestyle nature of the game across I guess, but the problem is that it would be hard to find the game in search engines with such a common word. Also there is already a snowboarding company named like that (Flow bindings).

Quote: "I think you want to conjure up an image of hipster snowboarders"


Well, I began snowboarding myself in the 90s when it was not so bloated so I try to keep the style of the game more in that time frame and reduce the hipster crap to a minimum

Quote: "See attachment."


What the... how did you get that cover sketch off my hard drive?!

Quote: "Here's a page with snowboarder speak."


Thanks, that page is actually quite helpful!
Here is another one: www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/snowboarddictionary.asp

Quote: "alpine spirit actually sounds awesome."


Yeah, it's definitly one of my favorites. Actually it was the working title of the project for some time. I just don't know if it sounds cool enough you know, to me it sounds rather serious, a bit like old men skiing But it also invokes most of the feelings (nature, mountains, freedom, culture) that I'm after so it's still acceptable.

Quote: "I made a snowboard game (my first DB game in fact) called 'Stoked'"


I remember reading an ancient thread about it here on the forums, I may have even downloaded and played it! Wasn't it like riding down an endless generated terrain or something? But yeah, there where some XBox games named like that. There was also a german television show about freestyle sports named like that back in the days.

Quote: "I kinda imagine a more sandbox style game with that, where you have a lot of freedom"


And that is exactly one of the main aspects of the game! A very simple to use (gamified) terrain editor is at the core of the game and I imagine the main gameplay to be a lot like Shape Terrain -> Ride -> Shape (refine) (tm)
Playing around with massive amounts of snow like that (raising mountains, plowing in slopes) is actually quite an entertaining experience by itself.

Quote: "then don't tell anyone, because if you think of a real cool name for a snowboard game, someone will nab it!"


Oops, I hope it's not to late, but I trust this forum
Also I have a blog to be opened as soon as I've settled on the name so I will be quick to have the name reserved for me.

Ok, so this seems to be in the top spot right now:



Then I also had this idea:



First the acronym POW sounds catchy and energetic, it has a cool vibe to it like people saying "Let's go play some POW!"
It's also an abbreviation for powder, which is the nicest type of snow to ride on. And then it stands for Pleasures of Winter, which should represent the openess (snowboarding, skiing, slope creation, landscapes) of the game. What's your opinion on that?
Van B
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Posted: 18th Nov 2015 10:40
I wouldn't use the word pleasures, maybe another P word, like Purpose, Pursuit, Point.

Purpose of Winter, sounds like snowboarding and similar activities is all that winter is good for - works for me!

To me Pleasures of Winter sounds wrong, and it's difficult to explain why - someone says ''Let's put on Pleasures of Winter'' - I don't immediately imagine a snowboarding game, I imagine a log fire, bear skin rug, and regret.
Hockeykid
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Posted: 18th Nov 2015 12:59
Quote: "First the acronym POW sounds catchy and energetic"

Quote: "And then it stands for Pleasures of Winter, which should represent the openess"


POW is a rather common acronym for "Prisoner of War," which definitely doesn't make me think of "openess." The name itself is alright, but I don't think you should advertise it using the acronym. It would make "Pleasures of Winter" seem very, well "unpleasant."


Sean
_Pauli_
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Posted: 18th Nov 2015 13:19 Edited at: 18th Nov 2015 13:22
Quote: "Purpose of Winter, sounds like snowboarding and similar activities is all that winter is good for - works for me!"


That's not bad, I'll think about it. Although purpose sounds kind of serious too.

Quote: "POW is a rather common acronym for "Prisoner of War," which definitely doesn't make me think of "openess." The name itself is alright, but I don't think you should advertise it using the acronym."


Yeah I found that out too. Hmm, the question is, do younger people also think of that meaning too? And what about non-native English speakers? And it also has other meanings like Piece of Work or Prince of Wales, but I don't know how common these are. Do you think it would be too risky?

I'm still kind of hooked on Pow now and not willing to let it go so easily
Maybe I should not advertise it as the acronym "P.O.W." directly, but more like the phonetic "Pow!".
This would also make the connection to video games in general, like the Pow-Block from Mario Bros.

Here are a few other names that would fit this abbreviation:



Especially the first one would make for quite a cool title combined with the phonetic:

Van B
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Posted: 19th Nov 2015 10:28
I like it, I think it would stick in peoples mind as well.
MrValentine
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Posted: 20th Nov 2015 21:50
Winter Surfer
Season of Snow
Goggle Boarding
Half-Pipe Winter
Air-Time Master [Yes A.T.M. for kicks]
Hmm...

Mmm... Boarding...
CJB
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2015 14:21
Give the main character crazy blonde hair and call it "Boris Goes Skiing"
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Uzmadesign
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Posted: 1st Dec 2015 04:28 Edited at: 1st Dec 2015 04:40
The best to do these things is to find out on your own. It's good getting these guys, but use google a crap lot and use google translate and copy and paste words to see how they sound by a text by speech. You'll find what you want way more without advice. It's how I came up with the name of my hero and villain. You also gotta give yourself a hidden meaning underneath them. I used theological references for mine.

Had to edit it, did not want anyone to see my progress in my movies. Mods got a sneak peak.
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_Pauli_
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Posted: 7th Dec 2015 08:47
Thanks for the helpful input everyone!

The game is finally called POW! Psyched on Wintersports.

Its website is now online at powgame.net
Davros
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Posted: 19th Jan 2016 11:02
i'd of gone with snow slayer
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Phaelax
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Posted: 20th Jan 2016 07:50
powgame.net? I first thought would have been Prisoner of War Game

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David Gervais
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Posted: 20th Jan 2016 12:46
Just a little brainstorming...

"Snow Flow"
"Flow Snowtion" (invented word with Snow+motion)
"Snow 'N' Flow"
"Snow Motion"
"Flow Motion"
"Flow Motion Snow"
"Snow Flow-er"
"Snow Flowing"

Sometimes it's not finding a name that is the problem, it's selecting one from too many. LoL

Cheers!
Ortu
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Posted: 21st Jan 2016 19:25
Snow motion is good
_Pauli_
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Posted: 10th Feb 2016 17:47
Thanks for the ongoing advice everyone!

As the game is still in a pre-alpha development phase the name is not set in stone, so such suggestions are always welcome!

Well, "Snow Motion" is actually quite nice and fits the theme perfectly. I've had it on my list for some time too, but rejected it because of some other company and/or product out there (not game related as far as I know). But I thought about it again and I think I may switch to that in the near future!

What's your opinion on making it a bit more unique by writing it as follows: SnoMotion
It may make up for some better search engine results and URLs that way...
Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 10th Feb 2016 21:03
Ooh I really like SnoMotion as a title!
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