The Creative Process in Game Design

What the talk is about

Roee Avramot talks about how the creative process works in game design, noting that KPIs and metrics make it easy to forget where ideas come from. Creativity is not an inborn gift but imagination put to work with discipline. To start, one should disrupt routine: set aside time and rituals, change the workspace, and switch from a closed task mindset to a playful one. A spark usually begins with a "what if we mix..." question, and the mind moves in small steps, combining narrative, aesthetics, mechanics and theme. To filter an overload of ideas, he uses a mental gameplay model, storyboards, paper prototypes and playtests. In the Q&A he advises mixing clusters of ideas to avoid copying existing games, and building a slim version of the core idea together with the programmer. Useful for game designers, especially beginners and indie teams.