How Good Games Get Their Start

I want to introduce you to the newest game in my line up, Toy Box Kingdom! or TBK for short. You can check it out under games in the navigation bar. I am impossibly excited for this game and I think it encompasses exactly what I want to create. It is such a fun and delightful theme, and the idea is really coming together.

But I want to write about this game not for my sake but for yours. Because it is still in the very earliest stages of development so I can really and truly take you along on the journey. In fact as I'm writing this no physical prototyping has been done at all. So lets start at the beginning and you can watch as my game develops. I highly recommend that you read the posts in order for full effect!

I plan to label all posts relevant to this game as TBK Game Development followed by a title as you see above. The posts will touch on elements of game design, theme, mechanics, prototyping, development, playtesting, and art and hopefully someday will include promotion, selling, and making the finished game.

So let's start at the very beginning. Where do the ideas for good games come from? Now I am sure this is different for every designer but for me the process looks something like this:

Step 1 Vague Ideas - Initial concepts and desires

If you have ever thought about making a board game, even in passing, you've probably reached this step. This is the initial idea. It's whatever thing you want to make or add to the world of board games. It could be something simple like thinking that a game about pirates would be awesome, or thinking of a basic mechanic you'd like to see or play.

But if you've ever tried to take the idea further than that you probably quickly learned that's not enough. You have an idea not a game. This is one of the biggest obstacles for me in creating a new game.

For TBK my first vague idea was inspired by a kids book idea I had. The basics of the idea was that toys would come to life and that the kids in the book would shrink down be able to interact with the toys in scale thus being able to live out what was once just imagination. But since I deal in board games not kids books I figured I'd turn it into a board game. A game where you would use toys and your imagination to create something you never could in real life. I'll touch on theme more later, but for this game the theme really was that simple. Anyway I liked the idea, I liked it a lot. And I threw myself at it. For a while it felt like hitting a brick wall. I was getting nowhere and feeling frustrate with the idea. But after a week or so of thinking and working I finally got the Spark.

Step 2 The Spark - A burst of inspiration

The Spark goes beyond the initial idea or my initial desires. It is a burst of sudden inspiration, an aha! moment where I realize I don't just have an idea or theme I have a game! I often can't focus on much else until the Spark, as I call it, is written down and developed at least to a prototype-able level. Similar to a small spark when trying to light a fire it is fragile and easy to lose. Sometimes these sparks come naturally and in the moment, other times they are deliberately generated through brainstorming until something hits and I feel that excitement. They often come when I am playing other board games or after thinking about board games and ideas for several days.

For example Meta Card came as a direct result of playing deck building games and wanting to change the status quo. I wanted more player interaction and more intense, less luck based turn planning. The real spark came when I realized the goal of the game. Get the most cards! As simple as it sounds it paved the way for the stealing, destroying, and defending that makes the game so intense. It also paved the way for the other mechanics.

A great way to generate new Sparks is to cross ideas together. In the case of Leaf Cutters it was this idea of making a city builder like game combined with a scaling action card concept that was inspired by Civilization: A New Dawn. The ant theme came because I wanted to put an original spin on the well worn city builder genre and it ended up fitting perfectly. In fact I think most games could be broken down neatly like this and TBK is no exception.

In TBK the combination of ideas that created the spark was the initial theme, discussed in step 1, and the idea of strategic tile laying. It may not sound like much to someone outside my mind but to me it was all I needed. My mind was unlocked and the ideas and concepts flowed.

Step 3 - The Flood - Nurturing the Spark

This is the final step in idea creation. It is where you take the spark and build it into a full fire. As I'm writing this TBK is near the end of this step. I call it the flood and not the fire (the seemingly logical choice) because of how I handle this step. When I have a spark the first thing I do is create a new file folder and document for the project. Then the flood begins. I write down ideas as they flow from the spark. I don't worry about refining or balancing these ideas. I rarely worry about specific numbers or figures in this phase. Instead it is a free flow of ideas. For me this happens pretty fast, this is thanks to years of board gaming and making games, but also thanks to the days or even months of thinking about an idea before finally getting that spark. For others it might be slower and that's more than okay. The most important thing is don't be too critical about the ideas you are generating or it will hinder the flow. You can work out the details later, refining ideas, getting rid of ones that don't end up working, and planning specifics.

You really want to work with just 1-3 core mechanics and let any other details be worked out in how you implement those mechanics. In the case off TBK, the mechanics are tile laying and card drafting. Just before writing this I was working on my "flood" document for TBK. I am currently working out the different kinds of tiles and how they will be scored, the various approaches to victory I want the game to include, and how the toy box will work. There is are important aspects of games that you will want to deliberately consider during this phase but since this is about idea generation I will touch on those in more detail in the next post.

I have some pieces in the mail and should get to prototyping by the end of this week so stay posted!

Here is are the next Game Development posts you have to look forward to in the order I will write them. And for those reading later, the order I suggest you read them. I will write each one as I reach that phase of development in TBK:

- Game Design Concepts: My Principles for Making A Fun Game

- The First Prototype: How I Approach My First Draft