Game Idea Lists

In this article, game designer Sande Chen discusses the practice of generating game ideas on a daily or weekly basis.

In writing classes, students sometimes are asked to journal or write daily.  Similarly, game design students may be asked to generate lists of game ideas or mechanics. The idea is to promote accountability and consistency with a daily assignment. In fact, well-known game industry professionals have mentioned this practice before at conference talks.

In 2008, Patrick Curry, now CEO of FarBridge, spoke about generating 52 game ideas in 52 weeks as a lead designer at Midway Games. The talk is available free at GDC Vault and the transcript is here. As he explains, he became an "idea sponge" because not only did he have to come up with game ideas, he had to sift through them and decide which were viable. He described the benefit of doing this even on bad days or with ideas you don't necessarily like because as a professional game designer, you have to stay productive.

You can still look through Patrick Curry's 52 game ideas and comment on them. As you can see, they are brief but still explain how to play the proposed game.

While Patrick Curry had his own rules for which game ideas would be acceptable, you can come up with your own rules. This game enthusiast's site, Three Hundred Mechanics, is about coming up with novel game mechanics.

Is this something you've considered doing or have done?  Let me know in the comments!

Sande Chen is a writer and game designer whose work has spanned 10 years in the industry. Her credits include 1999 IGF winner Terminus, 2007 PC RPG of the Year The Witcher, and Wizard 101. She is one of the founding members of the IGDA Game Design SIG.