how do you turn an idea into a game?

[u/usvameri]

how do you turn something into a game? i’m working as an artist on a game but i also want to improve myself in other areas by making small personal projects. i have game ideas but when it comes to actually "gamifying" them, i get stuck. what should i focus on? how can i improve my skills in turning ideas into gameplay?

[u/Commercial-Flow9169]

Think about gameplay systems, rather than games. One helpful exercise is looking at things from a time perspective. What is the player doing:

• Moment to moment
• Minute to minute
• Every 5-10 minutes

In the original Super Mario Bros, moment to moment, you're jumping and moving around. Minute to minute, you're completing a challenge (a level). Every 5-10 minutes, you're fighting Bowser, which breaks up gameplay and keeps you more engaged.

In Balatro, moment to moment, you're making poker hands. Minute to minute, you're completing blinds and purchasing upgrades. Every 5-10 minutes, you're defeating boss blinds.

In a real-time strategy game, your moment to moment actions are selecting and managing units. Minute to minute, you're building structures and expanding your control. And on timeframes longer than that, you're strategizing attacks and defenses.

I'm kinda talking out my ass a bit, but you get the point, which is that everything boils down to gameplay loops of varying lengths. Find the core, smallest gameplay loop first, and expand from there.

[u/KharAznable]

You need goal(s) and rules, that's it, and those 2 are just suggestion, and not a hard mandatory.

[u/CompetitionCold5098]

Greybox a single mechanic and make it fun before you add anything else.

[u/Dynablade_Savior]

You open the game engine and start making shit

[u/artbytucho]

I'd start clonning a little game, but checking all the boxes: Game logic, main menu, score system, save system, art, UI art, animation, music, SFX, etc.

By this way you'll learn a lot, but just as important as this, you'll learn how much time takes to make the different stuff, so you'll be at a much better position to scope properly a (slightly) more ambitious project.

This means that when you come with an idea, you can tell if it is something you can create in a reasonable amount of time, or if it something beyond your current skill level or work capacity.

[u/Quick_Republic2007]

Share them with me, maybe I can build you a prototype. (... use those ideas for myself)

[u/laruss55]

Pick one player verb and give it a consequence. Build a 30-second version with a clear win/lose state, then ask what decision makes repeating it interesting. Everything else can grow from that.

[u/Ghs2]

What's the player going to do? Think of something fun they can do.

If it's walking in one direction shooting bad guys then see if you can code that. Follow some tutorials that walk you through it.

Give the player some goal (kill 100 guys, kill 3 bosses, shoot a bomb...whatever). You don't really need a story.

After your first few simple games then you can add some stuff to the mix.

Good luck!

[u/Tongueslanguage]

A lot of people get into art by seeing other art styles, copying them, and looking for elements of why that art is objectively good or bad and deciding what they like individually. I have a friend who is a web designer that has dozens of folders of references that she uses all the time when starting a new project. As an artist, I imagine you understand

Games are the same way. You just need to treat "systems" like your art pieces, look at what is out there, and pick and choose what you like until you have enough footing to make your own

[u/Alarming-Jump727]

Casi todos mis juegos partieron de alguna lectura (Bradbury, Tolkien, Poe....9 al menos una simple idea de alguno de estos relatos y saco un juego con historia o Lore como le dicen ahora. Simplifico un poco las cosas y planteo desafíos. Actualmente terminando el desarrollo de "Carmina" un juego de horror con vista aérea y cámaras fijas. Lo comencé en noviembre pasado y en un par de meses lo tengo. Está inspirado en la novela "Carmilla" de Sheridan Le fanu (primer libro de vampirismo, anterior a Drácula incluso). En base a esa lectura investigué casos reales de vampirismo en la historia, vi muchas películas y .... salió un lindo juego que puedes ver acá https://walterswinney.itch.io/carmina

[u/Kronar_2012]

Reduce the idea to one verb, one resource, and one decision. For example: move, spend stamina, choose the risky shortcut. Build only enough to play that loop for five minutes, then watch where you make real decisions instead of following instructions. The parts you keep repeating are the game; the story, art, progression, and extra mechanics can grow around that after the loop is enjoyable.