Well I did three hours of thinkin’ and I came up with three ideas that fit the theme. How do you explain where that time went? Well, there was a large glass of rye and a cigar, and also I walked the dog, and spent a lot of time talking to myself. I really don’t like to commit to an idea until I have at least three of them, and snowman johnson wilickers this theme is hard!\u00a0Or very easy, if you cop out.\u00a0I’m not content to simply interpret the theme as a design restriction,\u00a0which makes it very hard.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0rejected all perfectly literal interpretations. The first\u00a0idea is quite figurative, taking a different meaning of the word screen to mean\u00a0a screen door. But it’s a bland puzzle game and my least favorite idea.<\/p>\n
The second is literal but with a caveat, adding\u00a0the words “At a Time” to the theme. This has opened up into a very doable game design, but\u00a0I’m won’t be\u00a0sure how fun it will until I get a working prototype. Also, it’s got a strong rock-paper-scissors element but I haven’t been able to come up with replacements for the three elements\u00a0that make a lot of cohesive sense.<\/p>\n
Finally, the third idea is the most ambitious, taking a meta approach to the theme, where\u00a0the game is a story about a game. This one is in a kind of a linear, adventure style, and while I believe it would be very well received, I’m concerned that the\u00a0story I\u00a0need to develop before I build it and the associated\u00a0asset requirements might be more than I can accomplish in the time allotted.<\/p>\n
In short, I’m going to make myself secret sandwich\u00a0and then sleep on it. The secret sandwich is a PB&J. I’ve probably\u00a0said too much.<\/p>","time":"December 5th, 2014 11:03 pm","title":"Thinkin\u2019 is easy! It only took me three hours!"}