We come up with a lot of ideas here at Pure Bang Games.  Some are good, most are not, and every now and then we have a moment of genius.  But guess what, that’s basically true for everyone.  Ideas are easy.

Knowing which ideas are the right ones to make is the hard part.  So what to do?  How do you know when an idea is the right?  This is how I do it.

First: start with some limiting criteria: must work on this platform, must use a specific control scheme (one button/touch control on mobile), be for a specific audience, be in a specific genre, etc.  Most people do this without realizing they are doing it.  But if you can be thoughtful about the criteria, it let’s you dig deeper and identify special characteristics that can help with generating ideas.

For example, the Wii is known for its innovative motion controls and family fun.  That means people expect some amount of motion controls and the audience tends to skew towards women and children; so your ideas should fit.

Second: generate a list of ideas.  I know some people who start working on the first thing that pops into their heads, but personally, I like options.  The first thing you think of could be great… or it could suck, without any comparison, you won’t know until your release… that’s the worst time to find out you picked the wrong idea.

Third: narrow it down.  Now that you have a list of a ton of great ideas, narrow it down to your top 10.  Pick your personal favorites, but keep in mind the criteria.  Also, know what you are capable of.  This is really important.  Don’t use this knowledge to limit the ideas, but use it to narrow the list.  If you really love an idea but realize you can’t execute on it right now or it doesn’t fit the criteria, save it for later.  Don’t try to make a mega game unless you have the team and budget for it.

Fourth: use Market Research to cut some more.  Do some market research and reduce the list to the 5 ideas that have the best potential in sales.  Do any games like the ones you want to make exist?  If so, how well did they do?  Is there room in the market for another?  Can you improve upon the idea?  Is there something about your idea that will make it different from the others?  If yes to all, then keep it on the list, if no to any, then cross it off.  If there is nothing like it, it will be harder to project potential, but you can still determine if it is something people are asking for… or if it is something they will want once they know it exists (be honest with your assessment – but know that the next step will weed it out if you are wrong).

Five: Focus test your ideas.  By now you probably have around 5 ideas that you absolutely love and after doing the market research you are sure they can all be hit games.  You can only do one though… and even if you are being super objective, some bias probably still clouded the results.  This is where focus testing comes into play.  There are a couple ways to do this, from asking friends to paying an agency.  Whatever you do, you need a lot of people who fit within the audience profile to get a good representation and to avoid ties.  If you don’t have a large enough network to tap into, you can engage your audience online.  Whatever method you use, it is important that the people you ask match up with the primary audience for the intended game.

Six: We have a winner!  At this point, there should be a clear winner.  You now have an idea that you love, which has an audience, is relevant on its intended platform, and people agree with you that it’s something they’d like to play.  Now comes the hard part: execution!

To be continued…