Quote:Original post by Wavinator
Have you considered analyzing and breaking down just what those games are? What resources do they give you? What decisions do they allow you to make? Are there any feelings or mental states that they instill (like panicked laughter, or serious concentration)?

I've been studying old games like Fox and Geese and Pente for their structural elements for awhile now. I notice that it helps me a lot to figure out what the victory board looks like. Is it 4 in a row? Is it connecting dots? Is it that you have to make pieces connect and touch any 2 or 3 sides of the board. The victory board REALLY influences the strategies you can make available to the player in getting there.

To really get outside the box, I'd recharge creativity by playing lots of other games, but stay away from computer games for a bit. If you can find them, try out the games from this website. They've got some weird games like "Bitin' Off Heads" (where you play dinosaurs like bumpercars), Salem Witch Trials (where you accuse people of evil crimes like vegetarianism) and Save Dr. Lucky (where you race through a sinking ship trying to be the first to commit suicide to get into history).

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
What is ACT, PUZ, and ZUMA?

[google] Zuma is a pretty fun game. I haven't played the others.

Quote:Original post by ghosted
I always recommend ignoring games when you start struggling for creativity. It's too easy to get caught up in what has already been done. Even critiquing such titles often leads to a certain amount of cloning. As such, I'd recommend looking elsewhere for a source of inspiration and I don't mean films, tv or books.

Did you know the idea for Pikmin came about when Shigeru Miyamoto started thinking back to his childhood where he liked to sit and watch ants? Simple as that. Try the same yourself (not looking at ants) but taking something that intrigues you, be it mechanically or visually, and start twisting it into a challenge. Not a game, but a challenge.