Gamestorming

WHAT IS GAMESTORMING?

Often, when students sit down to make a game, they have lots of ideas for things like stories and characters, and about the game genre they want to make. Sometimes it is easy to forget to focus on the basics of game play – what the player can do and how they interact with the objects in the game. GameStorming is a card game that focus on the actions and interactions in a game. It can be used as a creative exercise, or as a directed brainstorming activity.

MATERIALS

To play GameStorming, you will either need: the print and play versions of the cards or to use the web based GameStorming deck. (If you want fancy printed cards, the print and play deck is designed for the poker card template at print and play games.) You also will need some way to keep track of points – coins, tokens, or pen and paper.

BASIC PLAY

Rules for basic game play can be found here – or you can watch the video walk through below. If you need a reminder of how to play you can print a few of these quick reference cards.

GROUP GAME DESIGN VERSION

Once you are familiar with the basic game play you are ready to use the cards to do some group brainstorming. In this version of the game you will collaborate to come up with a set of player actions that would all fit together in one game.

Here are the rules for the collaborative game design process and a planning sheet for use with them.