Write down everything you learn while making a game While making a game, you will go through many iterations and (hopefully) learn a lot of things. At the time, these lessons may seem like something you won’t forget, but since there will be so many, you definitely will (I know I do). Recording them for later use will be super-useful. This page will contain […]
Find your intrinsic motivation Making games is hard. It’s going to be time consuming and there are going to be difficult times. Of course there are many fun parts, but to be ready to make it all the way through, you have to be deeply motivated for the game you’re making. Why are you making this game? The answer […]
Find out how and where you work best Even when you are working on your ideal game, it will still be hard to keep yourself motivated throughout its full development. Find out how to discipline yourself and where and how you work best. In an office? From home? Alone? Co-working space? With a team? Through Skype? Full-time? Part-time? When you’ve found a comfortable […]
Find your focus early Knowing what you want makes it easier to make decisions early on. Write it down or talk about it with someone and it will help you to get a clearer vision. Doing this early on will make your prototype more focused. How early you want to decide on this all depends on you. Some like […]
Know what you don’t want You will more often have to decide what you don’t want in the game, than what you do want. Often the easiest thing is coming up with ideas, the hardest thing is picking the right ones. The coolest idea may not be the best for your game and you’ll have to decide against a lot. […]
Start simple Start with one simple mechanic and find the fun. If there is something to it, jump on that and be sure to playtest as soon as possible. Anything that doesn’t work, doesn’t really matter yet. Don’t try and fix every little bit. Focus on what’s fun, understand it and make it work really well. Once […]
Is it accessible? I think this is an important question to ask early on. Your first prototype will probably need a bit of extra information before the player can try it, that’s no problem. But as you move on you’ll want to make it more and more accessible, without needing to give the playtester extra information. If however, […]
Keep it simple (stupid) When working on a system or a certain mechanic, it’s easy to get so caught up in it you forget the one thing it’s supposed to do. Make sure that one thing works well and don’t lose track. I had a lot of problems with this when finding the right system for a level select. […]
