Umbrella game

Umbrella games are an author-appeal crossover game genre invented on Fantendo. In an umbrella game, each piece of content is included based on the creator's interests, rather than an attempt at realism. This usually crosses over disparate sources—series, mediums of origin, and even real-world celebrities and digital content creators—to the point of flouting the game's believability as a licensed crossover.
The genre name is a metaphor; all of the content is under an umbrella of the author's interests.
==Correlation with Super Smash Bros.==
The concept of umbrella games is probably inspired by the Super Smash Bros. series, which pits video game all-stars against each other in a fighting game setting. Many umbrellas follow certain elements of the series, while others break from these trends to distinguish themselves.
Umbrella games may or may not be fighting games. They range from reusing or tweaking the Super Smash Bros. gameplay formula, to covering other genres such as racing and casual party games.
Umbrella games may also incorporate a theme to determine what content is used. Whereas Super Smash Bros. restricts itself to video game content, and originally Nintendo properties, most umbrella games deviate from this rule to create the ultimate personal crossover. Thus, other constraints tend to be chosen as themes.
Most umbrella games have original branding, instead of using that of their component series. This reflects the unique tone and iconography of the Super Smash Bros. series, such as items like the Smash Ball and Assist Trophy, and original locations like Battlefield and Final Destination. Umbrella games often extend this to an original name, whereas "Super Smash Bros." itself is a play on Super Mario Bros.. Independent branding is not necessary, though it can make a project more identifiable as an umbrella game; names like "[Series A] × [Series B]" and "Super Smash Bros. [Suffix]" may imply a more limited and grounded crossover.
==History==
The first umbrella game was Elite Fisticuffs, a crossover fighting game created by under the Star Crash Inc. company alias. The game was openly an author appeal project and included characters from Homestuck, Mother, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Pokémon Adventures, and various other sources. As with later games, characters were not the only content to cross over; the game also included lists of bosses and stages under the same umbrella premise.
 initially gave the genre the name "baby waffles". This was probably chosen to reflect the nature of these games, as the content choices might seem random from an outside perspective. However, she later changed her mind, and proposed renaming it to the current "umbrella" designation, citing the meaninglessness of the old name.
In subsequent years, umbrella games have become a widespread choice of genre for many Fantendo users. They may involve a wild variety of characters, stages, items, and other features, depending on the genre and scope.
Umbrella games also mesh naturally with collaborations and free-to-edit articles. The latter allows anyone in the community to add content that they like. Games such as B.O.K.O, Godspeed, and Boss Battles have led to considerable overlap between these types of endeavors.
==List of umbrella games==
:Articles in the Umbrella Games category should appear here automatically.
Category:Fantendo