[jsomers]

> This is typical innovation... mixing two things together to make a third thing.

I'd argue that every innovation involves mixing two (or more) things to produce a third. So calling it "typical" is a gross understatement.

If you don't find the game compelling, it's not because the combinatorial (a + b = c) form of innovation is somehow uninteresting, but because the elements are.

I agree that (space invaders) + physics = (moderately more engaging version of space invaders).