Gaming is a highly lucrative industry, and while playing video games is a great way to pass the time and have fun, making video games will not just help you express your creativity, but can also end up to be an incredibly profitable endeavor.
You don’t have to be an expert in coding to generate a video game idea. The most popular games today are all rooted in concepts and ideas, and if you want to make a hit, it’s essential that you generate a great idea first. Once you have your idea, then you can find a team to help you develop the game and handle the technical side of things.
But, how exactly do you generate video game ideas? And more importantly, how do you generate ideas that will resonate with others? If you’re planning to pitch or create a video game, here are some things that you should consider.
Pick a Niche
As with any industry, it’s essential to find your niche if you’re going to create a video game. While nothing’s holding you back from being ambitious and trying to incorporate a variety of concepts from various genres to create your game, it’s best to play it safe and try to excel in a particular field.
Decide first on the genre of the video game. Do you want to create an RPG? A multiplayer first-person shooter? A story-based adventure game? This is the first thing you should consider as this decision will guide all the other ideas that will come afterwards.
Ask People About the Games they Like
Of course, you should make sure that the game you’re planning to create is not just for your personal enjoyment. While there’s a time and place for unique and odd ideas, it’s important to make sure that your ideas can still appeal to other people.
To help you figure out how you will shape your idea, ask other people about the games that they like to play. Also find out what makes these games enjoyable for them and try to take these into account and figure out how you can emulate similar experiences and emotions with your game.
Write Your Ideas Down
Ideas can come at you anytime. Sometimes they stick, and sometimes they don’t, but every idea is worth exploring. It’s important to write down your ideas so that you can explore and develop these ideas as much as possible.
Who knows, maybe that idea you didn’t actually remember you’ve written down turns out to be the winner?
Stick to a Theme
When you’re developing your game, it’s best to stick to a theme. Having a theme, whether your game is based on war, fantasy, sports, or anything you can think of is important as this will guide you in developing your ideas for the game.
Having a set theme helps you put closer attention to detail and it’s this attention to detail that sets apart great games from good games. The theme of your game will also ensure that you aren’t creating a generic product and will set your game apart from others.
Build Your Own Universe
Once you’ve settled on a theme, build your own universe with unique characters, locations, and stories. This is where you can unleash all of your creativity.
Building a universe will help your game leave a mark. The stories you tell in your game, if they resonate with your audience, might just be the reason that they keep on coming back to your game.
Read News and Reviews
If you’re trying to get your feet wet in the gaming industry, it’s crucial that you know what your competition is up to.
Follow reputable gaming media sites and magazines and read about the trends that you can incorporate in your game. Also take note of how they critique today’s video games so that you can avoid the pitfalls of other video games in the market while incorporating a thing or two about what makes other games good.
Play Various Games
Arguably the best way to help you spark ideas is by continuously playing video games. By playing various games, you step into the shoes of the consumer and you’re able to take note of the things that you enjoy and the things that you don’t.
With the hundreds of gaming companies present today, the competition in the gaming industry is as stiff as ever. You should know what you’re up against by experiencing what they have to offer and figuring out how you can do better than them.
Take Inspiration from Other Media
Inspiration doesn’t necessarily have to just come from video games. At its core, creating video games is an art, and a great way to create good art is by taking inspiration from other art.
Take note of what’s trending today, whether in movies, television, music, or other media, and try to think about how you can translate these successes in the field of gaming. Gaming nowadays is basically on the same footing as these other entertainment forms, anyway.