Although I dunno if I can participate in the 2007 compo, I'd at least try to help finding a theme for it :

My spontaneous idea was something like a multi-genre-in-one-theme for the 2007 compo :
Different kind of gameplay types are given (something like a genre-pool) and you'll have to at least choose three (or more) of them and combine them in your game.

To make it more concrete here is an example of what I mean :
You choose e.g. realtime-strategy, role-playing and first-person-action and then you'd have two choises of combining them :
  • Choice 1 :Use them all at once in a way like "Dungeon Keeper" did
    - You build a base and units and mange them (RTS-Part)
    - You can change the stats of your units, like the heroes in Warcraft 3 (RPG-Part)
    - And last-but-not-least you can "jump" into your units and move them around and attack like in an ego-shooter (something you could also do in "Dungeon Keeper")
  • Choice 2 : Split them into parts, e.g. different levels
    Level 1 is RTS, Level 2 is an RPG-Part, or each level combines some of the chosen genres at once.

I know that this sounds somewhat different, but if the genre-pool would be big enough, this could make up for some interesting cross-genre-games. Just think outside the box, e.g. a combination of a jump'n'run with some roleplaying-elements (just imagine sonic with different skills and stats ) and beyond. Or even something wiked like a Beat'em'up combined with realtime-strategy, where you don't build and command usual units (tanks, soldiers) but instead fighters that then fight each other with the player being able to control the fights like Streetfigher or Double Dragon.

And here is a list of some genres that should be in the genre-pool to choose from (with an example) :
  • Realtime strategy (Command & Conquer, Warcraft 3)
  • Roleplaying (Baldur's Gate, Gothic)
  • Jump'n'Run (Sonic, Mario)
  • Shoot'em'Up (R-Type, Salamander)
  • Beat'em'Up (Streets of Rage)
  • Fighting games (Streetfigher, Mortal Kombat)
  • Simulation (Pro Evolution Soccer, Flight Simulator, Falcon)
  • Roundbased strategy (Panzer General)
  • Puzzle games (Tetris)
  • Adventure (Monkey Island, Sam'n'Max)
    ...and so on...


Maybe the whole idea sounds a bit overwhelming, but hopefully it would spawn some wicked combinations of genres that have never been done before, so this could be interesting and rewarding in the end.