Playing with an idea
I wrote yesterday about my first foray into a new game idea. Last night I was talking with my brother and he suggested writing about the process.
This blog will try to be a log of what's happening with occasional updates.
So what's the idea?
My brother and I talked years ago about a simulator style game, perhaps with roguelike elements, based on a beaver trying to establish a new home.
Over the last few months Nathan Isaac and I started building small apps on the side, and we talked yesterday about what our third concept could be.
I'd been kicking around the idea of a game, and wanted to play around with the concept last night. Well, I didn't go to sleep until after midnight.
I wish I'd captured screenshots a little earlier in the process (or even set up Git early enough), but I do have at least one image from a few hours into the project.
Now, with multiple hours under my belt, I'm getting a feel for the game.
Right now there's a few things I know I want. First, the little beaver should be able to manipulate his surroundings. Second, seasons will affect the game.
Beyond that there's a lot of flexibility.
I'm trying to think through what should be the MVP, what should be a satisfying game loop, and what I'll need help from Nathan on. This is the very early, entirely fun and experimental stage of the app.
Neither of us know how to make a game, but I think a lot of the concepts I've learned over the years will apply.
Right now I'm using Claude Code to get a feel for how I want to play the game, while adding sprites that I'm creating in Figma. I'm trying to figure out the physics, how water works, how the environment works, and ultimately what could be fun about it.
Once that's done, I'll start working with Nathan (presuming we pick it up as a project) to actually think through and build out a game engine and game play logic.
Stay tuned.