Chapter 9. Conceptualizing Your Game

This is the start of the journey to making a game. But what will that game be? There’s nothing more daunting than a blank screen, but there’s also no shortage of ideas, people, places, things, dreams, and other games to be inspired by. Conceptualizing your game starts with just a thought, but it doesn’t end there. Using techniques such as brainstorming, motivations, and design values will help turn those ideas into a game design.

The first phase in the iterative game design process is conceptualize—developing an idea for the game and its play experience. At the beginning of the iterative design process, the focus is on generating the concept of the game. Once the first loop is complete, the conceptualize phase ...

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