"Copying Other Games"

Hello there! I've been seeing a ton of games on mobile devices and pcs like Crossy Road which have a ton of completely similar "copies" on the play store.I was wondering if that's legal? I mean if i go ahead and start making a game like crossy road but change obviously a few things here and there and upload it on the internet,is that considered illegal?Thanks in advance for any information regarding this topic!

 

At least you asked, lol The issue is that you are mostly likely to follow the same gameplay (hop and jump, etc) from other games, and even use the same graphic style as well (squarish, blabal etc).
However, whats the point of using other's work? Its not like that you can be more popular than them, or even if you do, then you'll have the legal issues

Why not trying something new, rather than cloning game?

 

Here are the basic IP protection methods and what they protect.

Patents - These protect inventions. They are not super common in software, and pretty much non existent in games.
Copyright - This protects the actual expression of a piece of art. So you can't go ahead and copy the characters, artwork or code directly from another game.
Trademarks - This protects the identity of the seller. So you can't use the name of another game or studio. Basically you can't pretend to be anyone else.
Trade secrets - This protects the companies secrets they choose not to tell you. So you can't break into a studio and steal the plans for the next game.

Note that none of this has anything to do with game mechanics or styles. You are legally free to blatantly copy game mechanics. Cloning is completely legal.