> Obviously IANAL, but to me as a game designer, mechanics aren't any less creative work than narrative.

I agree, to me it is a bit annoying seeing asset flips like Wargroove being hailed as new innovative games. They took the units from Advance wars straight offs. AA gun -> Wizard (fast good against infantry and air but weak against armor), Light-Tank -> Knight (fast, good against most targets and armored), Medium Tank -> Giant (slow heavy unit), Recon -> Dogs (very good against infantry, see invisible units), AA missile launcher -> Ballista (ranged unit that only attacks air), Bomber -> Dragon (strong flyer that only attacks ground) etc.

I don't think that anyone making an original game would have made those choices, like why can dragons only attack ground targets? Makes sense for bombers, not for dragons. Why are wizards so fast and weak against armored targets? Usually it is the other way around. Why can ballista only attack air? Historically they were used against ground targets, etc etc. The only original unit in wargroove not straight up taken from Advance wars is the Amphibian.

I wonder how much faster they got their game made thanks to just stealing the entire combat system from Advance wars...