game titles

[captainproton]

For my current game, I'm using the working title "The Book of 12 Stars."

It's actually the title of an old Nanowrimo story of mine, though there is little similarity between the two.

I'm having trouble coming up with a proper title for the game, an am hoping someone here could lend a brain cell.

I want to have something book/story related in the title, as books and stories are a big part of the plot an theme of the game. The main character is training to be a Sage of the goddess of wisdom, Libra (ie, a Librarian), and a lot of the plot centers on a book left to mankind by the goddess. Storylines use a lot of literary allusions, some easier to catch than others.

I've brainstormed a few, but those which aren't used by an existing game, book, or company seem a touch flowery and melodramatic.

Any thoughts?

 

[Rieker]

Well first i took from what you said and thought of "The Sage of the Goddess" lol

"The chronicle of 12 stars" (maybe it's not accurate to your plot but it sounds better imo)

It's really hard to say without knowing your game a little better though.

 

[captainproton]

Hey, I appreciate the effort!

Without giving too much away, the book left by the goddess is much more than a book. Some think it's a kind of divine grimoire or that it holds the answers to life, the universe and everything.

The book actually even has a sort of intelligence, and when it thought it was about to be used for the wrong purposes, it split itself into parts which hid themselves across the globe. The Librarians have tasked themselves with recovering the lost book of the goddess, as well as preserving the stories and knowledge of mankind. And, of course there are Things happening in the background.

As far as the literary allusions? Some plotpoints include a winter-locked kingdom, opera house intrigue, a charitable thief and a murdered king.

 

[Shian]

I feel like based on your information the title itself should be a literary allusion. Of course it's a bonus if the allusion is to something relevant to the main theme/idea or whatever you're trying to do with the game, but it doesn't even have to be that--it could just be based on euphony.
 

"Some think it's a kind of divine grimoire or that it holds the answers to life, the universe and everything."

Story 42? It might catch the eye of people who can connect it to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but I'd say it's otherwise--just an idea to show you what I mean by the allusion though.

Come to think of it I actually think "The Book of 12 Stars" would work perfectly fine as a title. If I saw it for the first time in a list of titles I'd probably give it a click.

 

[Diretooth]

Hmm... 'The Shadow(s) of Wisdom' could be a good title.

 

[captainproton]

@rieker: I have actually toyed with using the word "chronicle" in the title, though that particular word refers to a publication which records history/events. Granted, that might just be me being too pedantic. I tend to nitpick.

@shian: story42 sounds a bit too sci-fi, but I do like the Adams reference.

@diretooth: that's not bad. It's kind of moody, while hinting at the nature of the plot.

So, have I just been overthinking this title thing?

Some of the other ideas I've had:

"Libris Eterna"

"The Book of Evermore"

"Book of the Goddess"

 

[Ronpa]

I really like the name Libris Eterna. It's definitely the most unique out of the three.

 

[Diretooth]

While unique, the use of Latin in a game is common enough to be its own trope. However, it is up to the OP what the best title is.

 

[Arin]

Ehh, a title is one of those things that can be WIP up until the point you decide to drop the full game. You don't necessarily have to brainstorm ideas and a title for your game is one of those things that can be put off until the very end. It's just that RPG Maker likes to ask us for a title when we open up a new project which is pretty daunting, especially when you have to make something up on the spot. Well, unless you've been thinking about the title of your game for a long while...

 

[Diretooth]

Arin raises a good point. The first game I started making I called Mountain Story. It's very much a WIP title, but it works for what I need.

 

[captainproton]

@arin: what you say makes sense. The tough part is curtailing my natural pedantic obsessiveness to get things done. But I can try to put it on the backburner for now.

Other than Deus Ex, I can't think of any other Latin-titled games. And even if it is tropey, Libris Eterna is still in the lead for the final title.

And are ther any title which aren't tropey?

 

[captainproton]

I think I finally found a non-tropey rpg title: Chrono Trigger.

It's the only one I've come across that wasn't "Tales of Something", "secret of something," "legend of something" or similar.

 

[Deep Thought]

You will not believe how picky I am about titles. It's probably a sign of some sort of mental disorder. Nevertheless, these words/phrases are forbidden in titles I make, and I tend to shy away from other games with these in them:

• Legend/Legends
• Chronicle/Chronicles
• Tale/Tales
• Adventure/Adventures
• Egregious/improper use of foreign languagesMixing two languages (Girls und Panzer)
• Bad translations (Attero Dominatus, Sabaton's second album)
• Games with foreign names that don't tie in to the plot (a Western game that takes place during the Cold War could have a Russian title, but one that takes place in 24.5th-century Japan shouldn't)
• Games with untranslated foreign titles (foreign games with untranslated titles are acceptable)

[*]Excessively long titles
[*]Mashing cool-sounding words together (Knight Blade: Howling of Cerberus)
[*]Nonsensical titles for serious works
[*]Intentional ripoffs of existing works
[*]Profanity
Is it excessively strict? Probably. Is it necessary? If you want to make a title that truly sticks out from the rest, then yes.

The title is the first thing a potential player will see when they are shopping. This is especially important for RPG Maker games, which usually don't have box art. (In a physical product, the title and box art are probably tied in terms of visibility.)

First impressions are everything. An eye-catching, professional title may entice the shopper to examine the game more closely. The further they examine the game, the more likely they are to see what the game itself contains, compare it to their tastes, and make an informed purchase. By contrast, a generic or incomprehensible (foreign, gibberish, etc.) title may merit only a momentary glance. In that case, the choice is based on impulse; the shopper either buys it or doesn't. While a purchase is a purchase, regardless of customer intelligence (how do you think Walmart stays in business?) informed buyers that know what they are buying are more likely repeat customers, while impulse buyers are hit-and-miss.

Even if the game is freeware, the more players, the merrier. A game that nobody notices means time and effort spent wasted on your end, even if no money is made or lost.

 

[captainproton]

I actually agree with most of that. "Tales of Symphonia" would be on the no-no list, if it weren't already part of a well-established series.

Parody/satirical games can get away with it (Adventure Time).

But it is really hard to come up with something which fits the style and theme of a game without falling into one of these trope-traps.

 

[cabfe]

I was thinking of this: "One More Page".

Like people who can't drop fascinating books, or like knowledge which is never fully obtained.

Hence the wise words: "The wise knows that he knows nothing".

 

[captainproton]

@cabfre: that's actually not bad.  I hadn't really thought about putting "Page" into the title, though, for a couple of reasons: The parts of the Book the MC is collecting are in the form of objects and artifacts, rather than individual pages.  Also, the dual meaning of "page", which refers not only to books, but also to court attendants, and I thought it might be confusing. 

I have done some more brain-kicking, and have come up with another possibility:

"Unwritten"

or, with a subtitle: "Unwritten: the Hollow Book."

Thoughts?

 

[Mouser]

First of all, don't worry about what other books, movies, games have titled themselves. You can't copyright a title.

Go with what you think is best for your game. Tropes can be overused, but they generally exist for a reason - Chekov's Gun, for example, still a good rule to follow.  You've used stars in working title, Libra is the scales - how about Balance of the Night? Of course, I don't know if that makes any sense for your story or not.

The title should flow from the story, not the other way around. If you don't have the story finished, or at least outlined to the end with the major scenes done, you can safely put off worrying about the title till a later time.

 

[Diretooth]

'Unwritten' actually sounds like a good title.

 

[Mouser]

'Unwritten' actually sounds like a good title.

Sounds like the start to an Abbot and Costello routine :grin: