It's funny. You would think most people would have a full playable game in their concept with a goal. And a challenge.

But, no, these are often missing.

And "Fun", "Good visuals", "Theme" or "Good gameplay" don't create a unique game.

THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS IN CONCEPTS

NO GAME

How the game actually works is not clear
There is no goal or challenge
You can play the game in only one way and result will always be the same
If you play the level again, it will be pretty much the same
You repeat basic action over and over again, the game gets repetitive really quickly

NO GAME

How the game actually works is not clear
There is no goal or challenge
You can play the game in only one way and result will always be the same
If you play the level again, it will be pretty much the same
You repeat basic action over and over again, the game gets repetitive really quickly

FOCUS IS LOST

In the worst case, there's actually two games in the game
The game has way too many features, some are even in contradiction
The designer has lost which items work together and which not

FOCUS IS LOST

In the worst case, there's actually two games in the game
The game has way too many features, some are even in contradiction
The designer has lost which items work together and which not

NOTHING UNIQUE

We've seen this game already
I find this the most serious.
I personally really always demand this and push for this.
The designer has done the market research probably - in the worst case there's already a game with the same name
Why would we do a game that has already been done?

NOTHING UNIQUE

We've seen this game already
I find this the most serious.
I personally really always demand this and push for this.
The designer has done the market research probably - in the worst case there's already a game with the same name
Why would we do a game that has already been done?

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Here's a recipe that works often:
1) Something new + something old
Have something new and something old in the game idea. See here more details, the Tetris + Scrabble is a sample of this.

2) Include theme + mechanics + variation
We don't really work much with our idea to see how far it extends or bends. I recommend this highly. There is numerous part and exercises here to improve on that. You can utilise the theme from here and learn the core of your game from here.

3) Insert Wow and unique factor!
Your idea should have something mind-blowing in it :D You can get help on that here!

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

HOW ANGRY BIRDS DID IT

Fun core gameplay
Easy to understand - you can take any screenshot of the game and people will probably know what to do in the game
Rewarding & Satisfying
Fun sounds
Very universal
Limited text & Strong visual message
Very clear and motivating background setting
Level ending timing, Short term memory managing. Read more about these here.

HOW ANGRY BIRDS DID IT

Fun core gameplay
Easy to understand - you can take any screenshot of the game and people will probably know what to do in the game
Rewarding & Satisfying
Fun sounds
Very universal
Limited text & Strong visual message
Very clear and motivating background setting
Level ending timing, Short term memory managing. Read more about these here.

WRITE HELP TEXTS

Test writing help texts to a part of your game
See if they become too long and complex
Do you have a lot of dependencies making it hard to explain things?
If so, your game is too complex - simplify it - cut down features!

WRITE HELP TEXTS

Test writing help texts to a part of your game
See if they become too long and complex
Do you have a lot of dependencies making it hard to explain things?
If so, your game is too complex - simplify it - cut down features!