After my first three games were all born in university I’ve finally come up with an idea for a project outside of university. I’m thinking travel-themed match-3 game.
The process how I got to this idea was a little messy but fun. I was scrolling facebook this morning when there was a post about Tallinn – a city I really love – seen from above. I was thinking: Now that could be a fun game were you maybe see the city from above and have to manage it SimCity style. But wait – it sure sounds like a game that needs good graphics, the one thing I really like to avoid for games I’m working on alone. So my next idea was something related to Estonia in general, maybe something about the culture and heritage. But where is the game in that? How to make it fun, enjoyable and have replay value? Also – again – good graphics are needed. At this point I had to get up, get dressed, have breakfast and get on my way so the idea was sent back to my subconscious to play around with.
When I was on my way back home the idea resurfaced in a different form. I was considering my travel pictures as sources for game graphics. Not ideal for a story driven game with lots of interaction, but maybe as background … And there was my idea. The choice to do a match-3 game in the foreground was rather easy since I always – even before the candy crush craze – enjoyed playing them to pass time.
So now I’m thinking a globe, different countries, different objects to match for the different countries, a travel route, different difficulties, etc. I’ve already looked at some tutorials to get an idea about match-3 gameplay and I’m keen on starting today.