Friday, September 13, 2013

Brainstorm Game Idea #1

In this post, I'm going to describe my first brainstorming idea for a game.

This game is a version of the classic type-words-fast game, but with a defined theme and upgrades to make the game more interesting.

I've always like quick-typing games, but most of those I've played have had some issues. They either won't implement some sort of gaming-like progression in the game - upgrades, consumable items that boost your in game powers etc.- or they won't have a graphical theme and a background that's interesting so it's fun to play while you learn typing.

Surfing the Words - Story
The theme for this game is a guy trying to learn how to surf. As he types faster and faster, he'll be able to surf bigger venues and bigger waves for an extended period of time. The story resolves in the background as the gamer focuses on typing words correctly. Each stage in the game is a known beach/break from the surfing world. The story is supposed to be discreet and anonymous, but still provoke a willingness to progress through the game.

Gameplay
The gameplay is the addictive bread and butter of the game. It's very simple and easy to learn yet very challenging even for experts. Words appear on the screen and must be typed correctly before reaching the surfer on the screen. Typing them before they hit the surfer allows the surfer to 'ride' them, which in turn gives points and the player complete the level. If the typing is not done in time, the surfer will sway and lose health and, ultimately, wipeout the board and fail the level. Between levels, it is possible to purchase upgrades, such as more health (better board), increased health regen (better surfer), one time consumables such as clear all words (super surf move), and if the surfer accumulates enough points, he/she can move to bigger harder levels which also gives more points.

Technology
No new technology is really needed. The most important part is the input handling of the game (but this can be done in browsers easily). Additionally, graphic is an important part of the game as the theme and the feel of the game separates it from all other typing games. I envision the game in pixelated art as that's clearly my favorite browser experience.




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