This article was published on site The Alchemy of Gameplay. Enjoy!
Every one wishes to make a game. The task looks simple - just create a game! But wait...
As Alchemist you don't want to make just a mixture without a name, you want to make The Mixture, a Potion! A Health Potion, A Mana Potion, Stamina Potion.
To make The Mixture you need to know what effects will it have - same with the game. Define what it will be about, from the basics, keep it simple. To create a game you need to have The Recipe - a Game Design Document.
These are questions about your game to see clearer what you want to make
1. What your game will be about? About what you want to make game?
I want to make a game about being a tree.
It may sound stupid. It does... a little... my friends smiled and laughed about the idea. But the sense is there. They don't see it, we need a big picture. There is a game about controlling slimes, sounds weird but what about game World of Goo? Now it starts to sound like an Idea. Maybe a game about "Super fast hedgehog".
Of course you can make a less abstract. Maybe a "Game about being Futuristic cop that is an android and fights crime" or "Treasure hunter on its mysterious journey". Oh what? They made games and movies about it already?
The idea can also have some information about game SETTING - in short worlds in what fantasy your game will be set.
2. What's characters/games story?
First question is: "Do my game really needs a story?".
If you make some big game, game with character that player is controlling, game story based, a virtual novel, a horror game... A good story will help you make game more interesting, and players will forgive not having super realistic graphics, mind blowing sounds etc.
If you are making a puzzle game, an arcade game etc. Maybe you don't need it or you can have only an introduction. Every one knows Angry Birds game series. The game has simple story - there are birds and pigs who want to steal eggs from the birds. Every new episode shows part of story and also a new game mechanic. This is perfect for such small game. Player sees whole game idea in 10 seconds, sees mechanic that will be used in current episode. The animations are simple but entertaining enough, they are funny and ideal for a break from tapping. The answer for my project is:
Player is a seed that has fallen on the ground, carried by wind far far away from it's Mother Tree. The seed germinates, and player needs to help it grow first leafs, roots , transform from a plant to tree and fight with nature and insects living on same field.
It will be simple game, this story is enough. The story question adds few more questions behind: Who is the main character(s)? What are game locations? What enemies or NPC will player meet? ... What type of game it will be?
It will be Clicker type game with character skill tree building elements known from RPG games.
Simple enough. I want to give option for player to help getting points by clicking on the plant (or some other place on the screen). Similar to mechanic used in Cookie Clicker. The points can be transformed to some skills and parts of the tree, and 'upgrades' which will be the RPG part. Some skills will 'do the clicking' for the player.
Unique Selling Points
3. What are my future game USPs?
Hey! But what is USP? Unique Selling Points, USPs (or sometimes called Key Selling Points) are the elements that make your game stand out, what makes it better than and/or different than titles from the competition. Note the "Selling" part. These points are supposed to make the players want to buy the game. Or at the very least, make the publisher want to invest in that project :) source: Technical Game Design.
You can read more about USP on Technical Game Design.
If you want to make a game just to make a game, you make a mixture. We want The Mixture, define Unique Selling Points for the game. I know you can give away your Potions, but still -people must want to drink them! So your game needs to have something outstanding. Unique Selling Points are mostly presented on game trailers:
Dying Light
First I will start with Dying Light cgi trailer, the game is close for me because I’m one of Level Designers creating it. Who will know game mechanics better than LD?
At the beginning we see four people running/jumping on the construction site running towards air drop. We see some zombies. Characters have got custom adapted/crafted weapons as wrench with electric damage. There are some different zombies, very fast ones. Death reaches every one from the team. And at and main character gets hit by some other man, probably bandit. USP for Dying Light are:
4-player coop with free run and parkour elements.
Crafting weapons
Enemies are not only zomies but also humans
Of course there are more UPS for DL but these are main to see in this trailer.
Watch Dogs
I won't write what we see this time. Just watch and try to 'find' USPs by yourself.
Open world action game taking action in a city
Player can use weapons but also can hack
Player is in controll of the town
