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How legal are game clones?

4 points by erebrus ↗ HN
Hi, I know a game available for pc and iphone. It's not even a very recent game, however there isn't any online and/or facebook version of it. Imho, the concept has a huge potential for social gaming. Question is, how legal is if I was to do clone of the game, extend to be a social game and publish it on facebook?

5 comments

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ig1
You're fine cloning a concept, just don't steal anything from the original (graphics, music, level design, name)
kingofspain
Not always so straightforward though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Giana_Sisters

I guess, as with anything, you can buried under legal nonsense if you're unlucky.

ig1
I've player Great Giana Sisters and it's closer to a copy than a clone. The game mechanics are identical and parts of the levels are straight clones. For example the first set of blocks where you get the "grow massive" bonus is identical to that in SMB.

It's essentially Mario with a different sprite set.