is it just me or im finding "trust no one" a really difficult theme thing. Like all roads lead to a puzzle game or some sort and its not very varied my ideas. Just me?
In a way, it's a good and bad thing. My first thought was to make a narrative game, but then I realised thousands of others will do the same and most will have more writing experience than I do. So, I thought of making a rage game.
My point is the theme forced me to think outside my comfort zone and make a type of game I've never even thought to do before. It's actually been fun to make. In most games, the designer is trying to help the player. But, here you have become an evil game designer!! This has forced me to think outside the box.
None of this would happen if the theme had been something "sensible" like spin or grow. Then, I'd have gone with a reliable genre that I've done before.
We were struggling to come up with something original, eventually we did, but it took like 6 hours. We often brainstormed an idea but while we were trying to come up with game mechanics we noticed the idea is not that well connected with the theme. Well I'm glad we eventually settled down with something.
i agree. when i brainstorm. i quickly think of rage game, survival, horror mystery type. after brainstorming and getting like 3 ideas i think about: do i make a game that i like? a game that i never made before? or a game that i can finish in under 7 days? since its my first time, im really worried about the deadline. so i decide to make a very simple quick game and add the "trust no one" theme to the story.