One of our assignments for out innovation module was to work in teams to create a new and interesting game idea. To do this, we were each given a theme and made a “cootie catcher.”
Inside it, we wrote 4 game genres in the corners, 4 mechanics and 4 goals into the 8 outer triangles and 8 style and Form into the inner triangles.
Using the cootie catcher, we would randomly generate a game genre, mechanic, goals and art/style. The team name (Ours being "Touch") would be the core feature of the game.
Then, we had to do a five minute pitch for our game, outlining the platform, gameplay, UI, controls, demographic, business model and problems.
For our touch-based games, we ended up with the music genre, with territory control styled mechanics with a pixel art style.
Therefore, we pitched an iPhone game with an 8-bit art style. (one thats similar to the bit trip series) In the game, you must play as a pixel worm character to paint all the screen in a certain colour. There are enemies that will try and crash into the player. Power-ups were also introduced to destroy the enemies and also to help the player to paint the screen. When the player hits the power-up, it plays a beat - the closer the player is to the beat, the better the effect. Like many iPhone games such as Angry Birds, the game is score based.
Our business model was similar to current App Store games: releasing the basic game for free and charging for extra levels.
For our problematic features, we found that a music game may not be ideal for a mobile phone, as many people seem to mute their games when on the go. Also, due to the fact the App Store has millions of games, it would be extremely difficult for customers to find and download our hypothetical game. This could be bypassed by trying to find a publisher for it, who can deal with the marketing and advertising.
The exercise was very useful, as not only did it make me think about different ways we can innovate when it comes to game design, but also about different games genres and the possibilities they could have if they were mixed together.
Inside it, we wrote 4 game genres in the corners, 4 mechanics and 4 goals into the 8 outer triangles and 8 style and Form into the inner triangles.
Using the cootie catcher, we would randomly generate a game genre, mechanic, goals and art/style. The team name (Ours being "Touch") would be the core feature of the game.
Then, we had to do a five minute pitch for our game, outlining the platform, gameplay, UI, controls, demographic, business model and problems.
For our touch-based games, we ended up with the music genre, with territory control styled mechanics with a pixel art style.
Therefore, we pitched an iPhone game with an 8-bit art style. (one thats similar to the bit trip series) In the game, you must play as a pixel worm character to paint all the screen in a certain colour. There are enemies that will try and crash into the player. Power-ups were also introduced to destroy the enemies and also to help the player to paint the screen. When the player hits the power-up, it plays a beat - the closer the player is to the beat, the better the effect. Like many iPhone games such as Angry Birds, the game is score based.
Our business model was similar to current App Store games: releasing the basic game for free and charging for extra levels.
For our problematic features, we found that a music game may not be ideal for a mobile phone, as many people seem to mute their games when on the go. Also, due to the fact the App Store has millions of games, it would be extremely difficult for customers to find and download our hypothetical game. This could be bypassed by trying to find a publisher for it, who can deal with the marketing and advertising.
The exercise was very useful, as not only did it make me think about different ways we can innovate when it comes to game design, but also about different games genres and the possibilities they could have if they were mixed together.
