Experiments in Game Making

I am not the most avid game player in the world. I often think fondly back to when games were simpler – the Commodore 128 and Vic 20 games – where you had 1 little guy in a fixed world which wrapped around the edges of the computer screen.

I missed the whole Nintendo thing (my parents steadfastly refused to have one in the house) – and by the time I got out and could purchase one of my own, the world had moved to 3D gaming – which had the side effect of making me ill just from watching it.

It occurred to me that a lot of video games are quite stressful to play. People are constantly jamming down on the controllers to make someone’s arms and legs flail in the right direction at the right time. There’s a sense of right and wrong - a sense of “failing” if you didn’t master a skill. Nothing demonstrates this better than through the humor of “The Guild”.

My most fond memory of playing the Wii was was just paddling around the lake in a canoe looking for rubber ducks in Wii Sports Resort.

When I went to build my first game – I wanted to make it for myself. What would I like to play? In the past 20 years, there have only been a small number of games that have “hooked” me – despite the fact that in real life – I actually enjoy playing games. I see the cell phone gaming platform as an opportunity to reach people like me.

Idea #1 – Rather than focusing on time, let the player lose all sense of time.

I wanted to think about the people who had a terrible day at work - people who are still waiting for the bus to come – someone waiting for news at the doctor’s office. How could I write a game that takes their mind away from the world for a few moments, but lets them get back to it quickly?

Idea #2 - Make a game that has only achievements, no winning or losing.

When someone has had a bad day at work they don’t want to be a “loser” on their phone too. Games can be a way of giving someone that sense of achievement back in their day. “I got to level 3!”

It is tricky to get games played “against” the computer right. I played one game of air hockey where the ipod gloated when it beat me. That quickly turned me off playing a second time. It’s like playing Jeopardy against Watson – the game is rigged in its favor!

Idea #3 – Make people human again… by actually talking to one another and being… human.

In the smartphone age, everyone has got their head buried in some screen or another. Everyone has individualized entertainment. Even if you and your friends are all looking at Facebook – you’re all reading different news feeds. I constantly read status updates from friends saying they’re at such in such restaurant with their wife. I often wonder what she’s thinking while they’re posting that… I wanted to have a game where, people still actually talk to one another despite the use of technology.

Idea #4 – Make it satisfying.

If the success of Angry Birds teaches us anything it is that the sounds are what makes the game. To make my game satisfying I wanted to find sounds that would make you feel as if you were interacting with real objects. …to essentially transport you to another world where it’s just you and the game.

It also turns out that flinging birds is quite a fun gesture, and I wanted to find gestures that used the capabilities of the phone - but were fun, not frustrating. How frustrating is it to keep your phone level to delicately balance a marble? Just because the phone can tell which direction you’re holding it in doesn’t mean that it’s fun to do.

And so it began…

With these four ideas in mind, I chose something simple to get started with - a word game. A lot of folks like word games because they feel it spinning on their brain matter. There is a sense of accomplishment when the puzzle is solved. As I am not very good at spotting words in a jumble, I felt I could improve on the paper version by making letter tiles satisfying to rearrange.

I will keep posting about insights I had while making "Nine Lettuce". In the meantime if you have a WP7 phone the first game in the trial is free!

“Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!” – Dr. Seuss