I’ve got this game idea that’s been stuck in my head for months, niggling at my brain, threatening to burst out. I think it would make a solid core mechanism for an economic engine building game, but I keep stumbling over the implementation, how to stack everything up and balance the economy. I really need to just mock up some pieces and start playing, see if I can make something work.
Designers: How do you deal with these persistent orphans you can’t find a proper home for?
play without fear 
I have a “back burner” folder where I stick all the games that I’m not currently working on. For some of those games it’s just a note in a file called “seeds” that I look through for inspiration when working on something else. For more developed ideas it’s a text file with a few notes. For still others it’s a folder full of files that I’ve worked on for a while but have decided not to pursue for a while, for whatever reason (what David Whitcher calls his “sock drawer”).
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I have a ‘game seeds’ folder in Evernote where I keep everything that isn’t being actively worked on. I really want to see this in play, though.
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I have quite a few games on my desk. I usually leave them there: a handful of cards, a box of components, a ziplock. Some just stay there and never come back. Some roll into something else. Typically, I find my good games get going quickly. My bad games never do. I leave them there to remind me, but I don’t really know how to save them.
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I do that, but work has been frustratingly busy the last few weeks, and I have no free time during my days.
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I just wright them down and either forget about them or let them interrupt what I’m actively working on.
The hardest part is knowing which are the best ideas, since my newest ideas always appear more interesting. Actually working on and testing everything just isn’t possible…if you ever want to finish a design.
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Once you have 100 ideas, use the best ones to develop 10 pitches to run past people you respect. Then develop the one they like best. (See http://www.phos.net/2014/05/12/53/)
I was in a game design contest where I did really well by coming up with several ideas for each round and getting input on which one to develop.
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My process isn’t quite so formalized, but I’d consider this to be one of those 10 ideas that has passed muster and been approved by designers I respect. I definitely think it’s worthwhile developing. Like I said above, I think I just need to mock up a prototype and let it develop itself.
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