Brian Michael

I’ve been in a bit of a game developer’s block. I think that I’m only permitted one very good idea per year, and I already used up this year’s for my Software Engineering class (more on that later (maybe)). However, I really needed a very good idea- and fast.

Last year, I presented my hit indie game Cowboy’s Chorus at the M+DEV conference and it was a blast! I had so much fun running my booth and meeting all kinds of people. Cowboy’s Chorus was created with the visually impaired in mind- the entire game can be played without visuals. I knew that if I wanted to show off a game this year, I’d need an even more interesting idea. But time is running out- submissions for this year’s M+DEV conference are due October 22.

I decided I needed to start with some goals for the game. Here are those goals.

Playing Cards

I wanted the game to involve playing cards in some sort of fashion. They had to be playing cards (as opposed to custom cards) in order to allow conference attendees to easily familiarize themselves with the game. I felt like custom cards would introduce too many rules and reading. Also, if the game was based around playing cards, I could design my business cards to look like playing cards! Wouldn’t that be cool and totally worth making a game over?

Simple

I kind of went into this earlier, but the game needed to be simple. People will be going from booth to booth at this conference- they will only spend so much time at one booth. I have to capture their attention in that allotted time, and making something simple to jump into would be the way to go.

✨Different✨

I didn’t want my game to be like other games. It had to be unique. Special. Different. The hardest part of making something different is not just making it different for the sake of being different. For instance, I could try and make the game playable with a shard of glass. However, what would that accomplish?

Eventually, I came up with an idea called Dealer’s Choice. Essentially, the player would navigate rooms with movement akin to Doom’s, but instead of shooting enemies, turn-based combat would ensue. During the player’s turn, they would select playing cards from their deck. Each suit would represent a different ability and cards can be chosen based on whether they share a suit or value. During the enemy’s turn, the player would move around in a combat box similar to Undertale’s, but they’ll be able to shoot projectiles themselves.

I started working on the game over the weekend. Right now, it’s just movement and some card selection stuff- I’m working on the card abilities currently. Will I be able to finish this before the twenty-second? Probably not! However, I will continue to chip away at it. Definitely stay tuned.