It’s Game Chef week. It’s also one of those weeks rife with overtime. I started a sketch of a game called Give Me Liberty… but the amount of research to do it right is prohibitive in a week when I have no time. And the more time that passes since Saturday morning (when I came up with the idea) the less thrilled I am with it. It’s frustrating.
On Monday night, Kat & Michele & I talked about what we want out of our gaming. I didn’t quite identify it then, but I realized this morning that my absolute favorite part of gaming is the act of making things up. Two of my favorite games of all-time are The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Once Upon a Time… I consider prep a bug rather than a feature because I come to the table to make stuff up. Even playing with something I made up last week is less fun than making stuff up RIGHT NOW.
It’s the same way with game design. Clinton and Vincent are talking about their high and low points of the design process. My high point is that span of time when ideas for the game are just jumping into my head. Sure, half of them will get thrown out, but just coming up with the ideas is the fun part.
But coming up with ideas doesn’t make a published game. Refining those ideas into something fun, playable, and understandable by others does. Maybe my Game Chef game should be about the act of making stuff up. Maybe I’ve only got four more days (minus lots of work and overtime) to start fresh.
It’s frustrating.
Right there with you.
It’s my first time in game chef. I didn’t even really seriously mean to enter, I just thought I’d have a look at the ingrediants. Then Saturday afternoon I got an idea, and thought “What the hell.” I did some good work on it while very excited on Sunday, but now, and for no readily apparent reason but for the corporate gods that seemingly hate me, work has suddenly ramped up the pressure. I am measuring out my days in conference calls, and when the game calls to me I have to tell it to shut the hell up. The longer it goes, and the less I get accomplished, the less confident I am about it.
Right there with you.
It’s my first time in game chef. I didn’t even really seriously mean to enter, I just thought I’d have a look at the ingrediants. Then Saturday afternoon I got an idea, and thought “What the hell.” I did some good work on it while very excited on Sunday, but now, and for no readily apparent reason but for the corporate gods that seemingly hate me, work has suddenly ramped up the pressure. I am measuring out my days in conference calls, and when the game calls to me I have to tell it to shut the hell up. The longer it goes, and the less I get accomplished, the less confident I am about it.