Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to coming up with ideas for games!
(click on the arrows to view the sections)
Short/summed up version
In a nutshell, this guide basically says:
Think about your game’s name, look for ideas to build from, edit a lot, check the forums, browse the web, think about your experiences, order the process in which you build your game, have fun doing all of this, and like this post!
Brainstorm and plan.
While planning out your Gimkit game, there are a few things you’ll really want to think about and ask yourself.
- Is this realistic and possible to build, and do I know how to build it?
- Would this be fun to play?
- Would this be fun to build, and do I really want to build it?
- Has this already been made?
Name your game wisely.
When it comes to game development, one of the most important elements to make your game eye-catching is its name, so here are some tips for creating fitting and catchy game names.
- When naming your game, consider:
- Is it easy to remember and spell across all target regions?
- Does another game or product sound similar?
- Does it have a lot of competition with other games?
- Does it fit the theme and genre?
- Would it appeal to the target audience? - Open a new document and start playing around. Find words that you like, and combine them with words that fit your game. After some polishing, you’ll be able to come up with plenty of awesome names.
- Again, ask the forums. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Start with descriptive words for your game, like foggy, rapid, tense, struggle etc.
- Play around with sound. Try rhyming, onomatopoeia, alliteration (don’t go overboard with that one like GimAI does though)
- Look into etymology (where words come from). You don’t have to go straight to Latin but definitely do some research.
- Go on the hunt. Look at baby names, chemical names, place names, color names. Anything that might spark something off for you.
- Make noises. Just start making vowel sounds, humming, tapping things. Get the auditory parts of your brain firing.
Steal. (not really)
Steal ideas.
Of course, I don’t mean, say, completely copy someone else’s game, but if you find mechanics you like, add them to your game! Remember to give credit, though, no matter how much you change them. Combining elements from different games is a great way to create a game of your own!
Create an order for your development process.
You’ll likely want to start by coming up with your general game idea, but once you’re editing, you definitely want to have an order for things. Here’s my order:
- Design the map. Think about what your map should look like. For example, if your game takes place on a spaceship, you don’t want your background to be grass, and you want to use terrain like metallics and spaceship floors and props.
- Add mechanics. Add devices, blocks, everything you need to make your game come to life.
- Playtest. Do it with your friends, family, or on your own. Make sure everything is working correctly.
- Decorate. Make your game look nice by adding subtle background props.
- Polish. Add more little details, check over all your mechanics to make sure everything’s working right, see if there’s anything you can do to make it even smoother.
Having an order for your game development process can help out a ton in building your Gimkit game. It makes everything easier, and you won’t get confused working on too many things at once.
Edit until it hurts.
I mean exactly what I said. Do everything you can to make your game as smooth as possible and look perfect.
The greatest tip of all.
To make your Gimkit game completely perfect, with no problems whatsoever, all you have to do is one single thing…
like this post.
Other places to find ideas and tips
- The obvious place to find tips like these is, of course, the forums! The forums are a great place to get help with your game and get tips and ideas. The forum community has people of all sorts of Gimkit skills, and most of them are very helpful and understanding.
- The web. If you search up “games,” you’ll find plenty of games ranging from forty years old to still in development, all sorts of games! If you find (or already have) a game you like, make a Gimkit game out of it!
- Your own experience. Things you’ve done in your own life can affect your personality and the way you think. Use your memory and imagination, and you’ll be able to think up plenty of ideas! For example, a few weeks ago, at my friend’s birthday party, we played laser tag, which I found super fun, and later I thought, this would make an awesome Gimkit game! So I made it, and I think it came out awesome!
Thank you so much for reading, this post took a huge amount of time to make, hope it helps you make your game!
Feedback: how helpful was this post?
- 5 (extremely helpful)
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1 (this is so dumb)
Thank you again, and bye!