How to think small and simple

Hey there.

I never really participated in gamejams and such, but I really want to!

I just can't think of any small, simple and fun game. Ofcourse you can just make a platformer with coins and a few levels, but where is the fun in that?

How do you guys do it?

Pong... with guns.

Pong... with guns.

Pong... with basketball hoops

But you can't fire bullets from basketball hoops.

I don't know how to do it, but just because things aren't complicated doesn't mean they can't be creative.

A user on another forum I go to made this:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/210-game ... g/70105473

in 48 hours for ludum dare. It's almost portalish, but very unique in its mechanics (I think it got 6th place for creativity)

As for me, no clue. Even my small ideas are huge. If I could simplify my ideas more I might get more of them finished.

But you can't fire bullets from basketball hoops.

Overman Unless you're in the ghetto, then basketball hoops make perfectly acceptable sniper towers.

Lots of puzzle games are pretty fun as well and relatively easy to develop....at least there are no bloodsucking basketball zombies from planet Hoola!

Perhaps focus on a few core mechanics that are simple enough to implement, but are generally just fun for a player to perform.

Think of your choices of mechanics as a deck of cards. It is up to you to make a game with those cards (mechanics) that motivates the player to win and have a fun time trying. The same 52 cards gets you Go Fish as well as Texas Hold'em. The same mechanics of running left and jumping get you Mario as well as Sonic and if you just add shooting you get Megaman as well as Contra.

I hope that helps you visualize and breakdown one way to think through the process of making a simple game.

Hmm Really Hard to do actually. I am new to game development. But What I would do is to think for a moment and try to find out what would I want to play first. The best things I believe comes out when you like doing things. So I think you should try to create something that you would like to play and have fun. But after all I said it is such a hard thing for me too. Maybe the best thing is to go out sometimes and get isnpired by the sorroundings. things will come up I believe.