Swipe This!: The Guide to Great Touchscreen Game Design

Chapter 2: Clown-On-A-Unicycle

Do you have an idea for a video game? Of course you do1. Let’s pretend that you have an idea for the BEST. GAME. EVER. A game about a unicycle-riding clown who avoids being mauled by circus tigers while collecting banana cream pies. Genius!

Now, a clown on a unicycle might be a funny idea or a clever idea, but is it a good idea for a game? Making games can take a lot of time, money, and effort. You don’t want to spend your time creating something that no one wants to play. (Or worse, something that no one wants to buy!2) And you sure as heck don’t want to spend your hard-earned money making a bad game. But how do you know if your idea is any good? Start with these clues:

• You are genuinely excited about your idea. This doesn’t mean you are excited about how much money it will make, or the epic storyline, or the characters that would make great action figures. Rather, it means you are excited to play the actual game! Darn it, why doesn’t this game exist yet!? Oh, yeah, because you haven’t created it.

• Your mind keeps coming back to the idea. You keep thinking about it even when you are doing something else. Driving, showering, and making other games. And even better, you keep coming up with more and more ideas to improve on that initial idea.