Angie Clever

Ok, lets get started.  This is the first blog I’m going to write, so let’s start with introductions.   My name is Angie “Clever”, I’m a 22 year old game and web designer and President of Game Design Center in Wilmington, NC.  (This is the part where you tell me a little more about yourself too).  This is my space to let you know what’s going on at Game Design Center, and hopefully give you some inspiration of your own.

My company develops games by contract, primarily web applications, board games, flash games, and card games—no we do not do full software development yet, but I hope to add on in the next couple of years.  We also do custom web design.

So, now what you are here for.  Inspiration.  Designing games is one part know how and two part creativity- just like writing, or painting, or any other art.  The most valuable thing you can have is an idea, and you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have some of those.  The trick is holding on to the sneaky things and making something of them, so I’m going to share a method I use to come up with (and hold on to) ideas. 

Do you ever think that you have lots of great ideas, but when you site down to try to actually make it happen, you can’t think of one? Now this may sound like a silly exercise at first (I thought so too) but it really works.  When I was writing my comic strip, I came up with over 50 printable ideas in one week using this method, and it’s the same for anyone that needs to keep those great ideas.  All you need is a pencil and paper—you can ever go to the office store or your local supercenter and pick up a memo pad and one of those little mini pencils if you like.  I have to admit though, I just use a folded piece of paper and pencil and stick them in my purse (I guess that’s not an option for you men out there).

Now, for the next seven days, don’t go anywhere without this pencil and paper.  Nowhere—I mean it, don’t go to the bathroom without it.  (Especially not the bathroom—do you have any idea what kind of good ideas you can come up with in the quiet sanctuary of the bathroom?!? What other place on earth do we really have that’s free of tv, radio, cell phones, children, and all the normal distractions of life?).

First thing in the morning, you should take out your paper, write goal at the top. For me, the goal was this: “Write witty word play between two kids in a comic strip”.  As simple as this sounds, it will help you pin down exactly what you’re trying to think of, which is half the battle.  Now, throughout the day, whenever you hear something witty that fits your goal—maybe you see something on TV, read something online, or hear something at a store—take your pen out and jot it down.  Try to record at least ten things each day.

At the end of the day, take your list out and read it right before you go to bed.  Evaluate the list items with numbers (the best idea gets a one, the next best a two, you get the idea). Draw a line.  When you wake up in the morning write a new goal at the top of the page.  Try to use something similar, but make it more specific.  For instance, my second goal was: “Write funny things that happen at work”.  My second theme ties in—it can also be used with my comic, but it is different than the theme of day one.  Once again throughout the day, write down any situation or idea that comes to mind.  At the end of the day, prioritize your ideas to see which is the most creative, and which best fits your project.

Once you hit the seven day mark, give yourself at least one hour free of distractions and take out your sheet(s).  Look over all the ideas you have come up with in the past week.  I’ll guarantee that you have at least a couple of winners.  There you go, you have the next chapter in your book, your next hit song, or your next comic strip.

The trick to this method is, you’re hanging on to great ideas you see and hear, and making them your own with a special twist.   Do you know what you get when you combine two great ideas?  A really great idea! Ok, maybe I admit that my jello and bagel didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but for the most part, when we’re talking creative ideas, combing to good ideas is what can set you apart.  And even those bad ideas (aka your jello bagels) will become brain food for other ideas.  And those ideas create more creative ideas, and before you know it your writer’s block is gone and your’re knocking down the creative road blocks and zipping by—anyone standing beside you is just going to see a blur as you zip past! 

Just to demonstrate what a mean a little better, I’m going to try it again myself (hey, it worked last time).  I’ll post the results in seven days and you can get a better idea of where I’m going with this.  For the record, my newest project is to come up with a new card game project for Game Design Center.  So, day one’s topic is “Good Themes for a Card Game”.

Just to keep you posted on the latest development, my newest game Robot-Head (we’ve been tossing around the name Bot-Hed) has just entered development.  The basic theme is a 50 card deck.  All the cards are randomly mixed in together in one pile.  Each player draws five cards in the beginning of the game and one card per turn.  Each card has a robot part, either an arm, leg, head, gun, or software piece.  You can put down one head card per turn or you can put down two of any other piece.  Each head has special rules concerning which types of device cards (any card that’s not a head card) that can be attached to it.  Each device carries a point value.  The game ends when no more cards are in the pile, and the player with the highest point value wins.  Only complete robots (that is, robots with two arms and two legs, and anything else specifically required by the head) count towards you final point value for scoring.  It’s still in the works, but should be available to purchase by November—just in time for gamer Christmas! Wink, wink!