The only way to know for sure... is to build a prototype

I’ve mentioned Mark Brown’s channel Game Makers Tool Kit many times before. Well, I’m back with another banger about “How to find amazing game ideas”. The whole video is great but I specifically want to highlight something Mark said during the last ten seconds of the video as the credits and video thumbnails started to roll…

And then the final question to answer is… is the game idea actually fun? Because the truth is… our brains are terrible video game simulators. Almost every idea seems fun in our heads. But once we actually make it we’ll realise  that it’s boring, that it’s too complicated, and that it has disastrous  unforeseen design problems. So the only way to know for sure… is to build a prototype.

The answer again –and I cannot stress this enough– is prototypes.

“Our brains are terrible video game simulators.” Woof. This is a powerful sentiment and I regularly encounter this. I feel this is true with websites as well. I can make the best fantasy website – so beautiful, so perfect in pixels, so incredibly evocative people will throw their wallets at me – but if I haven’t put prototypes into people’s hands, I’m introducing a huge amount of risk.

That’s all. Prototypes. I think the rest of the video applies to where you can find ideas for amazing websites:

• Other websites - Stealing Borrowing good UX is a great start for an idea
• Genres - Follow the rules or offering an interesting twist on an existing genre (like ecommerce)
• Mechanics - Adding interesting iteractions or gimmicks can add distinction
• Experience - Go hard on experience and ambiance!

Mark also raises some important questions at the end and I wanted to highlight two of those because I think they’re important.

• “Can you make it?” - Be honest with yourself, do you in your personal capacity have the capability to deliver the idea? I often succumb to making ideas in my head that are so big and complex that it becomes impossible to build and maintain.
• “Will it stand out?” - In the sea of websites or podcast people come across each day, will it be unique or will it join the cacophony?¹

And wouldn’t you know it, those are the types of questions that prototypes help to answer.