Game Idea

Creativity in game design is not as widely studied as it is in general design discipline. While it may be argued that game design is simply a special case of design, in reality, it is peculiar in many ways and hence needs special attention. We aim to understand the game ideation process through the lens of creativity model. We first develop a theoretical creativity model based on the concepts in the creativity literature. We then study the ideation process of game design students and understand how it fits with the proposed theoretical model. We find that the game ideation discovered through field study broadly follows the theoretical model. Our larger research goal to develop a refined ideation model and build an ideation tool for game designers. This paper discusses the first step towards it.

Individuals’ creativity and new ideas today are not only essential for firms, agencies or organizations but also indispensable even for a nation. This article analyzes impacts of autonomy, risk taking and, especially, factor of tradition on self-assessment to subjective creativity and attitude to new ideas. Specifically, the article empirically analyzes how those factors affect creativity and new ideas and tests whether tradition is more meaningful than others in explaining creativity or new ideas. Most of previous research has theoretically concluded that, because of rigid and unchangeable norms and rules in tradition, individuals are not easy to generate or do new things, especially in Eastern countries. South Korea, with a long tradition within Asian and Confucian values, it is said that these values may limit creativity and new ideas. However, South Korea has achieved satisfactory outcomes in process of creative development, which could positively be affected by its tradition. U...

This article is exploring the results of an online survey directed at game developers and their innovation practices in 2010. Game idea generation is not the only idea-related activity that game developers conduct: ideas are recorded and stored in various ways, they are shared and re-used with different tools, and the attitudes towards innovation vary from one creator to another. According to our findings, practices for idea generation and idea management varies at different companies and also among individuals in 2010, right at the brink of a shift from casual games to service paradigm. We are arguing that in order to understand games industry more thoroughly, similar accounts on creative practices should be conducted systematically and always connected to the era and context of the creation.

This article presents findings of an ideation experiment conducted during a four-year period (2009-2012). An idea generation game based on morphological technique was utilized to further understand the role of stimuli for generating game ideas. In the experiment 40 participants brainstormed ideas in pairs. Each pair was provided with the same word stimuli in the same order. The ideas formed were analyzed and the connections of the stimuli words with the ideas were tracked. Atomistically ideas had strong connections to the stimuli, whereas the final ideas were diverse. The most identical ideas shared the same movie reference manifesting design fixation.

One the recent trends in modern knowledge management is modeling the
world in terms of entities: objects, which are important enough to be given a name. Such modeling leads to creation of large knowledge bases with millions of entities. Entitypedia, an example of such a knowledge base, contains facts about real world entities. Currently it contains around 10 millions entities. Like in many other large knowledge bases, there are some factual mistakes in Entitypedia. It is very important to correct those mistakes to increase Entitypedia quality. However, due to the scale of the knowledge base, it is almost impossible to find and correct mistakes manually. One approach to this problem is to employ so called “games with purpose”. In this thesis we explore the application of word games for improving knowledge about entities. Word games are very popular all over the word. After analyzing more than 30 different word games, we have selected a crossword game as the one to build a prototype system. Crossword game was chosen for its construction, playing style and popularity. In this thesis we present ways of correcting mistakes in large entitty-based knowledge bases, such as Entitypedia, using various word games. We have chosen, further developed and implemented a particular word game, crosswords. Our prototype includes an implementation
of a crossword generation algorithm, including grid and clue generation, and a game play part, complete with the options of submitting feedback to serve as a basis for correcting errors in Entitypedia.

The apodosis is the consequence of a condition, such as "make lemonade." Aposiopesis is cutting off an expression midway, such as "if life give you lemons…" This quiz combines both. Thus, for example, for "Make Lemonade" the answer would be "If life gives you lemons."

This paper examines the new product creation process in videogames - a product that incorporates large quantities of creative talent and effort. Using various secondary and primary (interview and ethnographic) data, we identify three main characteristics that are involved in the creation of videogames: inspirations are significant in their creation, they are constructed from a wide variety of cultural and other influences, and they have evolutionary aspects. These three aspects are interrelated. We also demonstrate that the creation of videogames involves a large variety of types of creative thinking processes. However, rational thinking processes, defined as problem-solving, planning and other processes, are also needed, as well as processes at the group level. This provides us with a new kind of framework for identifying and understanding products, especially ones that are constructed from cultural and many other influences, or that involve the convergence of technologies as well ...

We provide a broad characterization of how videogame design results from individuals' creative actions. Relying on qualitative data from a variety of sources including our own interviews and ethnographic work, and, a sourcebook on videogames, we are assured of the existence of three facets of creativity-based game design: idea creation, constructivism and evolution. The implications of a creativity-based framework for design are that game design features might result from conventionally known creative processes such as insight or inspiration, or from the form of creativity that 'blends' disparate concepts together in novel ways by adapting, adding or combining them. This latter form is what we term 'constructivism' or 'constructivist thinking' -something which increasingly digital or content-driven products (i.e., virtual) that are freeform in nature could require. A constructivist approach to game design suggests that games can be seen to be comprised of features from past games and other media or products, and thus as a consequence, the heritage of products are quite straightforward to discern. Furthermore, evolutionary processes can now be viewed as the outcome of these constructivist and idea creation mechanisms.

This paper examines the new product creation process in videogames - a product that incorporates large quantities of creative talent and effort. Using various secondary and primary (interview and ethnographic) data, we identify three main characteristics that are involved in the ...

Rethinking Ecology is a new open access, peer-reviewed journal that aims at fostering both forward-thinking and the publication of novel ideas in all aspects of ecology, evolution and environmental science. This editorial briefly presents the rationale, unique features and the aspiration of the journal.

In this article, the findings of an interview study on game developers' perspectives on iteration is presented. A two-part interview study conducted in 2010 and 2013-2014 suggests that from the perspective of game developers, iteration is an essential, natural and important part of the game development -if not even a trivial part of the process. However, there is much to explore on the differences in practice and opinions revealing distinctive details in iterative processes potentially leading towards more elaborate design philosophies and methods on game development.

Producing new ideas may feel like an easy and automated task or even something mysterious, as ideas seem to come out of nothing, sometimes in weird situations, and designers rarely run out of them. Based on the interviews of 23 Finnish game designers and game professionals responsible for new ideas from 8 different companies, it is clear that ideas do

Formal problem-solving and creativity techniques have repeatedly been promoted to designers by consultants and scholars. However, there has been little research about the adoption and usefulness of these techniques among practitioners. In this paper, we investigate the prominence of different design methods among design companies in Europe and North America. We interviewed 17 professional designers from companies of different orientation. We inquired about working practices and the significance of different methods and practices in everyday design work. We found that designers from industrial design as well as engineering design backgrounds relied mostly on established design methods – generally characterized as ―design thinking‖ skills – rather than on specific creativity tools. Sketching, rapid prototyping and in-house testing were typical ways for the designers to invent. We suggest that the emphasis in design creativity studies with pragmatic goals should be on studying design practice and everyday situated creativity rather than on examining isolated creative techniques per se.

This book is a collection of research and concept papers developed as a result of the Games and Innovation (GaIn) and Games Industry Innovation Processes (GIIP) research projects. The GaIn research project (January 2009-March 2011) was designed to study game industry design, innovation practices, and playful innovation. Understanding creativity as a domain-specific phenomenon, the objective for GaIn was to map the domain of game design as an organic practice with specific formal restrictions in order to create methodologies and tools for generating, refining, evaluating, and managing game ideas in a systematic manner. The GIIP project (March 2010-March 2011) studied the innovation processes of Finnish game companies and supplemented the research goals of GaIn. These two projects have provided answers to many of our initial research questions, as well as initiated several new directions for future research.

The project was divided into several different mini-studies, where rich data was gathered by combining traditional and experimental research methodologies. We conducted several interview studies and surveys, utilized drawing exercises and protocol study approaches, wrote literature reviews, organized game design workshops and events such as game jams, and engaged in our own design processes. The results presented here are a valuable contribution to game design theory, and provide our commentary on the topics of idea generation, innovation, design, and management within the game industry. An especially important part of the project has been to provide concepts and prototypes of tools, which contribute to the present design practices.

Presented here is a report of a survey directed at game developers about different aspects of game development. Practices for idea generation and idea management vary quite a lot at different companies and also among different individuals. This applies among other things to sources of ideas, creativity techniques, and recording practices. The second part of the survey is about developers’ attitudes towards innovation, measured with a set of Likert-type statements. Generally it seems that their attitudes are mostly positive and even enthusiastic, even though some feel skeptical in one way or another.

Abstract This paper introduces idea generation games designed for the use of game designers. Three games designed especially for generating new game ideas were developed in the GameSpace project that studies methods for design and evaluation of casual mobile multiplayer games. GameSpace idea generation games have been developed through an iterative process and in close cooperation with the end users, game industry professionals.

This paper introduces brainstorming games developed for the use of game designers. Three games designed especially for generating new game ideas were developed in the GameSpace project, which studies methods for design and evaluation of casual mobile multiplayer games. GameSpace idea generation games have been developed through an iterative process in collaboration with the end users: game industry professionals. According to our workshop experiences and tentative results from a pilot study, idea generation games can be successful devices for the creative work of game designers. Game- based idea generation techniques provide an easily facilitated, focused yet playful setting for coming up with new ideas. However, our experiences indicate that idea generation games feature special challenges that must be taken into consideration when designing such games.