When Is A Clone Not A Clone?

When it’s a counterfeit.

Over the years, there’s been a lot of talk about clones in the games industry, but after reading this article on Indie Statik about an Android game called Slap!, I think we (the industry) need to be clearer in our word choice.

It’s easy to throw the word “clone” around, but this incident – where the copycat game is “actually using the original sprites from our game” – I’d like to suggest a different term:

counterfeit: adj. made in exact imitation of something valuable with the intention to deceive and defraud. (OED)

I think that’s a much clearer description of what’s happened in this case, and should be targeted by a DMCA.

(As an aside, I do find it amusing that Slap! is “based on” the traditional game “Red Hands”, but the creator appears to claim that a Windows game called Hand Smash has “ripped off the [Slap!] mechanic”.) 

[Originally posted at my personal blog.]