Hi Guys,

My name is Serghei, I live in Moldova and I have a question:

Can I copy a game's functionality legally?

What I mean is that I want to make a game based on another game's idea/functionality. 

The game I am referring to is http://utopia-game.com initially my game will be 90% the same, in the future I will make changes and it will become slightly different, but initially I want to keep it simple. I don't want to copy the game's graphics or soung, just everything else  

Thanks for your time, have a nice day

Yes. Totally legal. For reference, see: every platformer ever.

Don't impinge on their "trade dress" (or your local legally equivalent term) and there should be no issues, and you've already said you don't plan to do that.

That said, I don't live in your country, I am not licensed to practice law there, I am not YOUR lawyer, and accordingly you should not consider this legal advice.

You just can't copy anything they have patented or any of there IP. Because they use common fantasy elements you could redesign a lot of the game without having too many concerns.

One warning this looks like a dedicated community, so chances are that these players won't abandon the game for a new one. It also doesn't look like the type of game that is going to draw a lot of players.

Thank you for your replies gentlemen!