Your team will start to generate ideas for possible game designs that can provide the gaming motivations and player experience goal(s) listed in your target player persona.
Your team will generate and refine its ideas in a multi-step process: 1. As individuals, brainstorm ideas for multiple game concepts. Then as a team, share your ideas, and brainstorm additional ideas. 2. Your team will refine its ideas to create a game treatment (brief written summary with sample sketches) for each of its top 3 game concepts. 3. Your team will get outside feedback on its top 3 game concepts, and select a final game concept to prototype.
Thinking of ideas for a game concept can be challenging. As we saw earlier, there are many elements to a game's design. Rather than trying to figure out all the design elements of a game at once, it will help to start by thinking of ideas related to the premise and objective for a possible game:
The premise is a one-sentence summary of the context of the game.
The objective is the goal that the player is trying to achieve in the game.
For example, the premise of Crossy Road is that you're a chicken (or other character) trying to avoid obstacles as you cross a busy road. The objective of Crossy Road is to get the farthest distance possible before dying. As you can see, the premise and objective of a game are closely linked to one another.
The premise helps establish the story of the game, while the objective helps establish the mechanics of the game.
Premise → Setting (Game World) → Characters → Story
Objective → Conflict or Challenge → Basic Gameplay
Starting from a premise, you could then think of ideas for the setting, which could lead to ideas for the characters and story. (Though not every game will have characters and a story. Some games don't have a story, and some games don't even have characters.)
Starting from an objective, you could then think of ideas for the conflict or challenge in the game, as well as the basic gameplay (procedures, rules, etc.).
As a reminder, generic types of game objectives include (but are not limited to): capture or destroy, rescue, chase or escape, race, alignment, solution, outwit, exploration, etc.
Of course, you don't have to start with an idea for the premise or the objective. For example, you might first have an idea for a setting, which leads to an idea for a character, which leads to an idea for a conflict that the character has to resolve, which leads you to the character's objective in the game, which helps you establish the premise.
RECOMMENDATION: Simple sketches or diagrams can be a good way to record ideas — and can help spark even more ideas. For example, if you had an idea for a robot as a possible game character, make a simple sketch of a robot. The sketch might help you think of related ideas for other characters, a setting, a story, the objective, etc.
Each team member should individually brainstorm ideas for at least 2 different game concepts. You can record your ideas using this document.
Keep in mind your team's gaming motivations and player experience goal(s). These should be the starting point for your ideas.
Think of ideas related to the story (premise, etc.) and/or the mechanics (objective, etc.) for a possible game.
Don't criticize or reject any ideas yet.
Try to build on your ideas to create more complete game concepts.
Try to include simple sketches or diagrams.
As a team, share your ideas, and brainstorm more ideas together, so that the team has at least 5 different game concepts.
Don't criticize or reject any ideas yet.
Try to build on each other's ideas to create more complete game concepts or to develop alternative game concepts. Be sure to record these new ideas.
Be sure everyone has the opportunity to contribute and be heard.
