legal issues

[bitshit]

Hi!

I was wondering to what degree it's legal to use existent game concepts.

Hypothetical:

Lets say I'd create my own pacman or tetris clone, use my own art and name it different and go commercial, could that give me any troubles?

Are there any guidlines for what is allowed and what not? I don't know what its worth, but it would be developed and distributed from Europe (in the EU self and to the US etc).

[mahlzeit]

Anything could give you trouble. People can sue you for any reason. If they have a lot of money they can pressure you into submission. Then again, if you worry about all of the things that *might* go wrong, you'll never accomplish anything.

The short answer is: feel free to use existing gameplay concepts (IANAL).

(And please search the forums before you ask a question; this isn't the first time this issue has come up.)