Design frustration
For the last couple weeks, I’ve been bouncing back and forth between designing on paper and just trying to code up quick proto-designs.
Last Friday, I was excited about a game idea that was sort of a WordSlinger/Scrabble variant, but where the emphasis was trying to connect point A to point B.
On Monday, I decided it worked better with colored squares rather than words, and I coded up a quick prototype.
By Tuesday morning, I wasn’t happy with it – seemed boring, but seeing the color matched tiles gave me a different idea, which seemed brilliant at the time.
By Wednesday morning, I had that idea working – it seemed promising, if rough around the edges.
By last night, I had the edges smoothed a bit, and suddenly, seeing the game really ‘work’, it didn’t seem so fun or cool anymore.
But it did spark an idea for a different game mechanic, which in turn, may or may not work.
It’s a lot easier when you start with a proven game mechanic, and tweak it, rather than try to find an altogether new mechanic that’s fun. Bonnie’s Bookstore started as a fundamentally new word game mechanic, but when that proved boring, I switched it to being an improved twist on the proven Bookworm paradigm.
Still, I’d like to find a new, fun mechanic if possible. We’ll see where I end up.
January 20th, 2006 at 9:57 am
Hmm.. Been there done that, except with cellphone stuff it’s so much harder to predict what will work. And yeah, totally new mechanics are really tough to come up with-your mind is so incredibly trained towards the stuff you have already created/played.
Thanks for the great blog BTW, I for one am really enjoing it-and enjoying seeing one of the ‘big guys’ stepping ‘down’ into the casual games world 😉
January 20th, 2006 at 11:34 am
and the thing is alot of times a game will come out later on with one of the mechanics you though was crap and it will do great and you’re like “$#@$#@$ why didn’t I develop that”
it’s happened to me with so many ideas it’s not funny
January 20th, 2006 at 11:38 am
btw I think you’re wordslinger variant sounds intriguing and I bet it would do well
January 20th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Well, I didn’t actually build a prototype for that. But when I played the actual WordSlinger and thought about it, I realized what was appealing was two things:
1) Trying to cram a lot of words into a small space.
2) Trying to add short 2 & 3 letter words into the grid in such a way as to create multiple words – either going in opposite directions, or as compound words/extensions to existing words.
Unfortunately, by shifting the focus to building words from point A to point B, presumably with a time/word count limitation, both of the attractive elements about WordSlinger sorta become moot. Cramming extra words into a small space doesn’t matter – you’re trying to do the opposite, extend over a long distance. And the mechanic for making multiple words out of 1 is sort of moot as well.
I just didn’t think my variation was likely to be challenging or satisfying. Plus, I sorta would like to do something other than a word game next.
January 20th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
yeh I supposed, I know what you mean by wanting to find a new mechanic though.
the other day I was toying around with the idea of Doodling, most people enjoy doodling but it seems like it would be to complex
January 21st, 2006 at 7:04 am
Totally agree with James. You always have to be careful with dismissing ideas too quickly – especially when dealing with “hooks”. If it’s fun for that first five minutes you’ve really got something. It’s so easy to get jaded… Try your idea out on someone you trust – and you’ll never know.
January 21st, 2006 at 9:24 am
Man, does this sound a lot like my work. We are this really small company whose sole mission is to create patentable game concepts and mechanics for casino games. So, when we aren’t actively in the process of bringing a game to market, all we do is prototype, find the hooks, and throw away the rest, and then repeat the process. We have a really large morgue filled with ideas that are merely half-baked, or aren’t baked at all. Due to the expensive process of attempting to secure the patents, we only bother with chasing the “cream of the crop” ideas.
At which point you go to a trade show, and see someone else with a game that they are selling with their new concept, which is essentially something you threw away. And then your response is either A:”Duh, don’t those people know that’s a stupid idea” or B.”I TOLD you it was a great idea!”
So, it’s nice to see others having the same types of reactions.