By Lead Designer 5 Tips for Prototyping Prototype ASAP 🏃‍♂️
#5 Don’t write bold design docs. Sometimes an idea can sound brilliant on paper, but a very rough prototype can quickly validate it. And the opposite - an apparently bad idea can turn out to play great on a device. Prototype as soon as you can (before the others do!) Iterate as Hell 🔥
#4 Don’t stick to the 1st direction you imagined. Even if you think it’s the best way to execute - challenge yourself and push the game into a few different directions. This can open design options you otherwise wouldn’t consider. You might end up back where you started, but you'll be more confident this is the way to go. Code Fast & Dirty 🍝 #3 Don’t focus on quality code at this point. Quick prototypes can be dirty, spaghetti, not optimized and drain the battery in 30 minutes of gameplay. You'll rewrite it once you know what the game is really about. Use any free assets you can find as placeholders - art and UI don’t matter at this point. Let Others Play 🕹️
#2 You might be a little biased - so give the prototype to 3 friends with a very brief intro to what’s it about. Watch them play but don’t correct them. Did they get the controls in the first run? Understand the goal of the game? Listen to suggestions but also filter it - understand the real origin of the issue. Focus on the Feel 🎯 #1 Define the most important thing in your game idea and polish it. The game ‘feel’ is the core that attracts players - your prototype should nail it, be it character, controls, camera or any other thing you imagined. Controls alone can create extremely satisfying hyper-casual game experiences - no need for extra features till the core gameplay feels right.