Do not pass go . . .
I grew up playing games: board games, card games, and games made-up while we played in the backyard. This was a time before video games were ubiquitous. Even so, I also took up video games when they were available. The first computer we had in the house was a gift my brother received. It came with programs that you could “code” onto a cassette tape (yes, I am that old). I typed in those codes but early on tried to change them. While I loved the games that already existed, I already had this desire to create my own.
How could you work games into your creative work?
Does one of your main characters play a great hand of bridge?
Could the game of charades form the framework for a poem?
Does the world you’ve built need a set of rules to help you guide the story?
Maybe you could use this guide for game development as a way to think about your writing / creation process?
Could you analyze the instructions to a game or watch someone playing a game for inspiration on why or why that particular game “works”?
I don’t share Wikipedia often but, at the time I’m sharing this, the entry about gamification is quite interesting.
So what would you say makes a game “good”?
To me, there has to be some kind of satisfaction factor even if I am not “winner”. I also feel there generally needs to be a replayability factor, although that doesn’t feel like a requirement.
BONUS
How do you “finish” an open-ended game like “Animal Crossing”?
How could you work this idea (or any above) into one of your projects? See below for some additional inspiration:
3 - Speaking of characters, has this inspired you to go back and think more about what it means to be a / have character?
10 - Maybe it is time to go back and old school brainstorm a list of ideas?
22 - Still thinking about gaming but not sure where to start? Could you plot a quest?