This Christmas, Give… Game Design?
While brainstorming for Christmas gift ideas this year, Ruth came up with a great idea: design a fun (subject redacted– sorry, some recipients occasionally read this blog!) game for any friend and family who like (subject redacted). What this gift has going for it:
- Covers a lot of people. Game design, even for a small, non-professional game, is a lot of work. Designing a game for just one person is probably more than we can take on during the holidays. If you pick a design that covers a couple groups, though, you’ve taken a good chunk off that list.
- Cheap! Christmas is way too expensive. With the right game design, you can reduce your costs to some slick forms from VistaPrint, or even something entirely homemade.
- Personal. With gifts like this, your lucky recipients will always remember you fondly as creative, strange, or both. With a bit of luck, they’ll even enjoy the game!
Another reason this idea is so great is that it’s a way for someone like me to give creative gifts. I don’t have to be able to sculpt, paint, or do anything else that requires an ounce of visual sense.
I’ll write more about the gift after the holidays. Feel free to drop me a line if you’d like to hear about it sooner.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:14 am
This probably wouldn’t be so onerous if you planned it out a little earlier.
I say port Gug’s Puzzle Adventure to SDL (or something else reasonably cross-platform) and maybe tack on a few extra levels for this year. I’ll happily step up as a beta tester, offering Linux, WinXP and Mac OS 9 ( I could probably also offer BeOS and OS/2 if you’re really wanting for variety).
November 28th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
“Another reason this idea is so great is that it’s a way for someone like me to give creative gifts. I don’t have to be able to sculpt, paint, or do anything else that requires an ounce of visual sense.”
Nonsense. Everyone knows that proper game design requires *at least* a BFA in Sculpture.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
“I say port Gug’s Puzzle Adventure to SDL (or something else reasonably cross-platform) and maybe tack on a few extra levels for this year.”
You know, my current PC game is turning out to be a lot tougher than I had anticipated– something about designing a new game mechanic from scratch, for a nonexistent genre.
Something light and quick like GPA might be a fun project to whip out.
“Nonsense. Everyone knows that proper game design requires *at least* a BFA in Sculpture.”
I certainly can’t offer myself as a counter-example at this time.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Hmm. I just realized that in his post, TheOtherErik clearly volunteered to make us all sculptures for Christmas. Thanks, Erik! Would you like some photos of me, for a nice bust? Are you thinking marble?