Image Source: David Mullich

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The first step in creating your game is coming up with the idea for your educational game. Brainstorming, imagining, and sharing ideas is a great way to start. You need to think of the topic, whether or not you want to include a story, and the rules and mechanics of the game. Here are some videos that introduce brainstorming for new games:

• Brainstorming Game Ideas with Adriel Wallick
• Game Design Brainstorming Challenge
• A Cool Way to Come Up with Unique Game Ideas
• How to Brainstorm in Groups
• Brainstorming

These videos highlight creativity, the many influences that shape game design and the importance of teamwork:

• Shigeru Miyamoto - Creator of Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda (and many other games).
• How the inventor of Mario designs a game
• Yuji Naka - Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, ChuChu Rocket, Samba de Amigo (and many other games)

Visit the pages below and complete their associated activities. Then, come back to this page and complete the activity below to complete the "Ideas" section of this guide.

1. Managing Your Project
2. Focusing the Purpose of Your Game
3. Designing for Your Audience
4. Storytelling Principles
5. Tips for Successful Games

Generate Game Ideas!

Work as a team and come up with ideas for your game. Use the Game Design Canvas to help generate and document your ideas. As you get started with the template, use a set of stickies to capture ideas. Place the stickies on the relevant section of the canvas. A stickie note is easy to move, rearrange, or remove.

The canvas introduces the MDA Framework, which is helpful for thinking about perspectives and what is needed in a game.

Next Steps

You've completed Ideas! Proceed to Plan & Prototype!

References

Caruana, S. (2015, May 13). Brainstorming game ideas (with Adriel Wallick) - GameDevElement episode #3. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFZBAmB51VY

GG Interactive. (2015, October 29). Game Design Brainstorming Challenge. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://youtu.be/2TmKmPHcxnk

Mullich, D. (2014, June 18). LAFS Game Design 6 - Conceptualization. Retrieved March 27, 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/dmullich/lafs-game-design-6-conceptualization

Mullich, D. (2013, October 30). LAFS PREPRO Session 1 - Brainstorming and Game Pitches. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/dmullich/pre-pro-1-assignments