Friday, December 16, 2011

How to Make up Games


Many people I know love playing games but with Christmas coming up there's plenty of time for playing games. And rather than getting bored with the same old board, how about making some up yourself?

This post offers some of my thoughts on the principles that I have found useful when making up games. Its less of a recipe book, but more like some thoughts on what things might help cook up an exciting game. 

Starting off - rolling a 'double 6', or a 'double 4' or even a '5 and a 1'
The easiest way to make up a new game is by changing one you already know. You don’t have to reinvent the whole thing - just try doing something a bit different, like adding a new rule or changing the amount of time you get to do your go.

Cater for everyone
When making up games for groups to play, try to remember that people love variety and difference. Sometimes people like competing and other times they like working together. Sometimes they like sitting and other times running around. Invent games where you cater for different tastes in the same game.

A few rules go a long way
When making up games getting the rules right is important. If you have too many rules, people will get confused. Try to start with a few simple rules and get playing, rather than creating lots of complicated ones.

Learn to trust your inner genius
When it comes to inventing things and being creative, we each have our own particular genius inside of us – a kind of creative 'boffin' with wacky hair and odd socks. Try to listen to and love your inner boffin, as she is the character who will connect two random ideas to make a stunning and elegant new game.

Yes, and…

When making up games with friends, you all need to feel happy to share your ideas. Its not very helpful if someone stands there with arms folded, saying 'no' to everything (and that includes you).

So learn the habit of saying ‘yes’ to suggestions. If someone suggests something you don't think will work or aren't in the mood for, don't just say 'no'. Find a bit of the idea that you do like and then offer your own suggestion.

For example, if someone said lets play a game where we all have to wear blue hats and you don't like blue and don't have any hats, don't just say 'No, that's boring.' Instead, you could say ‘hmm. Yes, I like the idea of doing some dressing up and why don’t we just dress up in whatever we got and in whatever colour we like?’

Boredom – a great thing to be cultivated
To make up games, sometimes you need to get bored. Learn to sit around and do absolutely nothing, avoiding all distractions such as the TV, homework and picking your nose. Once you are well and truly bored, your whole body and mind will start buzzing with energy and ideas for new games to play.

Embrace failure like a soft teddy bear
If you are going to be good at making up creative games you have to learn to accept that sometimes things don’t work out like you imagined or planned. Mistakes are a part of making up games (and life). The trick is to be curious about what happens.

So get going and try something out.