- The key to a good game is in the game mechanics and puzzles!
- Non, I won't even bother if there isn't a good story.
- Nein, nein, nein, nein! Without a striking atmosphere, there is no game!

Well, I can assure you, one can't go wrong if he considers all aspects, no matter how overwhelming a task this seems.

There are plenty of courses and how-to's on programming, modelling and so many music resources (you wouldn't believe the tens of musicians proactively offering their services). With a bunch of talented people who work hard (during their spare time as well) you can get this covered. It's then a matter of mixing everything into something that makes sense. But from making sense to making something that feels fun and smart for the player, it's a long way. This mostly relies on how one uses the aforementioned means to convey emotion.

This is where game design and storytelling come in play. Besides the game design courses and publications and the ever increasing storytelling learning resources, there is some sort of alchemy when creating an interactive story, such as a video game.

Not sure how the big guys do it, but here's some insights on how an indie game development studio (namely ours) tackles storytelling. Introducing a new character to be more precise.

At some point we promised to our Kickstarter backers that Black (our main character) will be the lucky owner of a pet. So the moment came to decide what do we want from it, how is it relevant and what's the purpose of meaning, of course.

It took roughly 2h and all eight of us to decide his nature and capabilities. And other tens of hours to put on paper the puzzles for him + tens of days to actually build the puzzles in Unity. Anyway, back to the 2h thing. We split in teams of four and so the pet game begun:

Step 1: GO WILD

• Each team has 5 min to put on paper all the ideas that come to mind around Black's type of pet
• Rules: anything goes if it sounds fun.
• The two teams reunite and read everything out loud

At this stage we were rumbling about anything, wondering more in the insects area. Getting inspiration from the real creatures helped us come up with a lot of capabilities and weaknesses. For instance a wasp can fly but it can't swim. However we had no restrictions, in terms of consistency, at this stage.

Step 2: BREAK IT DOWN

• Now each team adds pet properties
• Rules: Anything that applies to any of the pet types previously discussed
• The two teams reunite and read everything out loud

The categories were ranging from How it looks, Strengths, Weaknesses, Weapons (how it attacks), to What Kills It. This time instead of starting from the inspiration animal and moving down to Properties, we would start thinking from the type of property we need and putting on paper anything related that comes up. When it came to merging what the two teams came up with, I took my laptop and opened the Excel to keep track more easily of what's discussed.

NOTE: Ideally, the teams have equal sizes plus one person who moderates everything: keeps track of time, writes down the outcome (merging the lists) and manages the voting process.

Step 3: TOP 5 & TOP 10

• Each team takes 5 min to select only 1 pet type and 10 characteristics/properties out of the entire pool.
• Rules: The properties need to characterize the selected pet types

At this point each person already had a favorite pet type and it was more about building a set of qualities that are suitable for him and were possible to implement by us in the timeline given (we have set strict deadlines for finalizing each game chapter). So we gave up on pets that can fly, because we'd have difficulties on building their navigation and designation. We gave up on the tank robot because we needed a pet with legs, that can stick to a wall. (Somehow, when thinking of the pet, we kept coming up with puzzle ideas too).

Step 4: VOTE & (make it) COUNT

• We take the lists, merge them into one and vote.
• Rules: For the pet type list, each person can assign 0-3 points to each entry, but the total of points added for the entire list, can't be higher than 10. For pet characteristics the numbers are higher (assign 0-3 points, having a total of 20 to assign), as we need to keep 3 out of 10. Each of us votes considering how that type or characteristics fit better the atmosphere and the story.
• We have a winner.
  

At this stage each of us votes, but there is no debate on it. Each person carefully ponders and independently assigns points based on what he thinks is best for the game, it can be better implemented or just what he likes best. In our case it was almost unanimously left out to have our pet crushed or to have him attack with his legs. Not because they were poor characteristics, but because they would rule out better ones (e.g.: if the pet can be crushed, then you can't use it to hold a heavy door, object or Black, himself).

Step 5: CONTEMPLATE

• Cry after the ideas you lost and embrace the winning concept. 
• Start building on that and evaluate plausible use cases
• Sketch a story of how Black encounters the pet, possible adventures together, desired conveyed emotion palette and pet's fate.

Not everyone will be completely happy with what's left on the table, but no idea is to be resurrected, no matter how much someone asks for it. If it was not meant to be, it was not meant to be. However, it's worth mentioning that this is just a concept stage and that during the puzzle development some characteristics might turn out boring, redundant or impossible to implement, so our pet's characteristics were defined during this session, but they sometimes reshaped during puzzle creation, implementation and testing.

As you can see he grew and now he has a personality.

This is how Sand Sailor Studio does a brainstorm when in need to build something from scratch. It's a method that takes some time (to play around) and discipline, but it's definitely worth it as it adds some structure to the creative process, which makes it more efficient in terms of time and desired outcome. Also you have all team members participating equally, regardless of their level of extroversion, avoiding to have everyone focused on that one idea, supported by the loudest.

So, how do YOU brainstorm?
PS: Thanks, Execution Labs, for passing the knowledge along :)

Phew, we're back home with a bag of mixed feelings. Three full days of awesome can be really tiring, I mean I actually drank coffee today (and I never drink coffee since @Sand Sailor Studio only the guys are coffee lovers, as gals rock it anyway :D ), but I digress. Back to the mixed filling thing: so we are dead on our feet, but at the same time we're full of energy and confidence that we are on the right track. Thanks to all of you who played Black The Fall or just passed by and had a good chat. Your feedback is golden!  From gamers, to journalists and developers we've honestly met only the good people: so smart and genuine!

Oh, I started  upside-down, with the Oscar speech, and those of you who did not attend might be wondering what is  EGX Rezzed all about or what's the deal with Square Enix Collective anyway. And for all of this there's a common denominator: indies.

So EGX Rezzed is an EGX (formerly Eurogamer Expo) event, featuring all the EGX attractions (playable pre-release games, developer sessions  etc), but with a focus on indies.

While Square Enix Collective is a curated platform that enables creators to post ideas, and gamers to judge whether those ideas should become reality or not (as mentioned on their page). If a game is approved by the community, then it can be supported by Square Enix Collective to drive crowdfunding campaigns and sometimes even help them further down the road. What is unique about them is that the IP belongs to the indie developer and no external force interferes with the creative process, so Square Enix Colective is really a guarding angel. And this label extends, obviously, to their lovely team :)

So within the Square Enix Collective booth we showcased with 4 other fellow developers:

• Sushee (France) - their game Goetia, a point & click mystery adventure,  is to be launched tomorrow. The team is very classy and smart and the game has such a nice atmosphere ^_^
• Titutitech (Spain) - their game Oh My God Heads is a multi-player capture-the-head-action game. It was the only multi-player in the booth and so much needed, as this is where the fun corner was :)
• Bulkhead Interactive (UK) - their game The Turing Test, is a first person puzzler that simply looks flawless :) So congrats are in order for the sharp chaps :)
• Cherrymochi (Japan) - their game Tokyo Dark, made quite a few people feel like a sexy detective ^_^, but unfortunately we haven't met the team.

I'm afraid we didn't get a chance to see much of the rest of the event, but we quickly visited the Indie Room and. It was a bit crowded, but there was so much good content. Honestly, having a crowded room can only be a good sign for the indie gaming industry ;)

There was, of course, a strong focus on VR, as this topic is getting sexier every day. I mean, people were staying in line just to try out the gear, so there's certainly an interest in this area from gamers and developers alike. Fingers crossed for all of us, game lovers, to own at least one of these toys  and have amazing apps to play around with.

Ah, I almost forgot about today's highlight: We ran a raffle where participants could win a Black The Fall 3D print statue. And today, with random.org's help, we have a winner: Sarah. Congrats for being lucky and thank you for playing! (Here's a list with the participants and here is the raffle screenshot.)

Yours,
Andreea

We're happy to let you know that this week Sand Sailor Studio is attending EGX Rezzed, as part of the Square Enix Collective squad (5 amazing studios). 

We have to admit we're pretty excited to showcase our demo in UK, as we have only got Black out for play in US (during GDC 2016)  and Germany (during Gamescom 2015). So fingers crossed for Londoners to enjoy crushing communist systems :)

Expect  one station there, where you can play the latest Black The Fall demo and...a raffle! That's right, a raffle, because this dystopia is all about equal chances, not meritocracy. Therefore all participants have equal chances to win a 3D printed statue with Black & the stylish box to go with it. More details on this on the spot during EGX Rezzed.

So, see you in London on 7-9th of April?