Game Brainstorm

Jump!

My first game idea is based on games I have played in the past. I have stated many times I'm not much of a gamer but I would dabble in various iPhone games. They were all pretty simple, I don't remember a specific game like this but some others sort of like it. So you are playing as a ball and you're rolling along the platform. The aim of the game is to jump to avoid the obstacles. They will be little spikes coming out of the ground. There will be an option to jump onto a higher platform where you need to collect the one coin you need to win. If you finish the game without collecting the coin you lose. I want to make a simple enough game as unity can be hard so I don’t want to try and achieve something that is completely out of my reach. I have looked up different ball games and I didn’t come across anything like this made with unity. I did find some similar on the play store but it was 2D. I’m sure there are more out there but I didn’t come across them during my research. In my experience games like this are highly addictive. It’s like when "flappy bird" came out, the game was so simple but people became so addicted trying to beat their high score and friends scores. I hope this game would come out well and I am excited to see it unfold if I do decide to go with this idea. This one would have to be one of my favourite ideas. Below is the image of the 2D game I found on the play store. I love the idea of having a face on it but when it comes to the final design I won’t decide on it now. This link is to a video where it is similar to my idea but it is 2D. I found this while researching.

Image Source
Image Caption: Ball on platform rolling collecting coins.

Don't Crash!

My next game idea is a car game. I'm not sure where I came up with it but while I was researching and thinking of different games to make and of course car games were the first genre I thought of. They’re so popular! I think it could’ve come from a particular Mario Kart 8 course on the Nintendo Switch! There’s a course where you do about seven laps of it and it’s an oval. Majority of other courses on the game you just do the usual three laps. So, my idea would be you have an oval track and you have to drive around it and avoid crashing into different obstacles placed all around the track. The car will be going fast in order to make it harder. If you can make it around the course then you win! I’m unsure if it’ll be making it around the course just once or maybe twice. There will be many obstacles to avoid making it harder. Below is an image of the course “baby park” that features on Mario Kart 8. I think it’s a really interesting idea and I would hope it would come out good. I think I would have the camera overhead instead of in the car, that way we actually get to see the car. I think the overall aesthetics would look better that way. I would have a black platform to make it look like a road. I would then get a car (obviously) and use that for the game. There would be no lives, the second you crash into an obstacle then the game is over and you can try again. I think this would also be a very addicting game. I would have a start/ finish line in the game to make it look more authentic. I couldn't find any game like this one online, I could've been searching for the wrong things but nothing would come up so the closest I could find was to this Baby Park run-through of the level.

Image Source
Image caption: Picture of "baby park" from above.

Collect Them All!

My third game idea is not like the first two. This time there is a person on a platform and the aim is to collect all the coins in a particular time limit. You would have to walk/run around the area and swerve around different items in order to collect all the coins to win. I am aiming for 25 coins in 30 seconds. This is just an estimate I would figure out the exact numbers when making the game if I decide to go with this idea. The camera would be the first person in order to make it harder to see where the coins are. They will be scattered all around the area. There will be border walls around the outside of the area to stop the player from falling. Once you collect all the coins you win. You can die in the game by running into some of the obstacles for example the fire or if you run into the outside border. I came up with this idea from seeing Super Mario 3D world. It is a typical Mario game but the camera is overhead. I was going to put it overhead but then you would see the coins so I thought to use that but put it in the first person so it makes it harder. I think this game would be challenging in order to collect all the coins in the time frame. I will have to test it many times to see how doable it is because I definitely don’t want to create a game that you can’t win in. It will be very interesting to see what I could do with this game as I think if it’s done right it’ll be very fun. This link of Super Mario 3D World for Nintendo seems really promising. Of course, my game won’t even be near what Mario 3D world is like but it is a good example of what I plan to make but MUCH simpler.

Photo source
Image caption: Mario and Toad running around a level in Mario 3D world

Drive Baby Drive!

My final game idea is another car game. The aims are a bit different though. You would have to drive your car around the area of the level to collect coins and to avoid obstacles. It is kind of a mix of the two previous games. I would put a time limit on it as well. You have to get around the course and collect so many coins during that time to win. To lose the game you would either not finish the game in time, not collect enough coins or drive off the edge. That makes it a bit more interesting without something stopping the driver from falling off the edge. I think this would be an interesting game to play. This is the game that I think would have the most work to do with it. Which doesn’t make me want to choose it any less which is good! I think because I would have to do the time, the coins and the course and then to add in the coding in order so they all work. I could be wrong but I imagine it would be. You can also jump in the car over the obstacles so you won’t hit them and crash. I think this game would be somewhat similar to the game I want to make, obviously with some differences. I would have the camera overhead like in that game as I think it will make it somewhat easier as if it’s in the first-person point of view you might not see the edge and always be falling off it which wouldn’t be too fun. Below is another image from a game I think could end up similar to the game I plan on making. I think this came would be really exciting to make and would definitely test my skills and knowledge of unity. Hopefully one of these games will work out for me, I’m excited to get into it more.

Image Source
Image Caption: Car driving collecting coins.