Design Jam: 12 Game Ideas

Elevator Pitches created during the session:

• Toast Apocalypse: Jam-nado -
  Toast Apocalypse: Jam-nado is a rage inducing platform game on Steam aimed at teenagers or young adults. It is deliberately designed as a casual game for those wanting to pass the time, there is no story or aim but to survive and pass the levels. Using a controller or keyboard, the player must navigate across platforms, avoiding obstacles in the game, and dodging jam bullets! They must complete the level in the time given or they'll find themselves engulfed in different colours and flavours of jam as it fills the screen, however there are platforms going left and right as well as above. Jump quickly to try and find the right direction or it may be too late for you to turn back when the jam comes!
• Space Plankton -
  Space Plankton is a casual game for anyone and everyone! Fly around space eating up the small bits of plankton as a customisable alien, the more you eat, the larger you get and the faster you travel. Tap left and right to move in that direction. Different coloured plankton awards didn't points and eat more in a row to get rewarded with multiplier bonuses! Compete online and with your friends to get the highest score. Don't crash into planets, satellites or anything else floating around space, and avoid any larger aliens, or they might just eat you instead!

My own ideas:

• A labyrinth PC game for anyone who enjoys puzzles! The player must navigate a series of similar rooms in a maze like design to reach the end of the level. They must use the clues given to them to light up certain tiles in a 3x3 area in the middle of the floor. However the pattern of lights can be anything related to what is given.
• Fly on the back of a creature of your choice as you navigate treacherous cliffs and hills dodging any obstacles that come your way. Swoop down and save anyone in danger to earn points and bonuses.
• Float through a mystical forest collecting balls of light which turn into little different minions which follow you for the rest of the journey. Be careful though, if you lose sight of them, they disappear. Don't let them become trapped! A certain number must be collected and kept safe to advance the level. See how many you can save!
• This is a time based challenge game. You play in first person view, with deliberate bad mechanics to make it harder. You will be shown a pattern built with objects and your task is to copy the image as close as you can and as fast as you can. The timer starts once the image stops being projected and the finished designs will be graded with a mark out of 100% as well as A, B, C etc. The patterns will get more and more difficult as the player progresses through the levels. 

The following games have been designed around a single word rather than a phrase:

• Rodents -
  Help your pet find it's way home after becoming trapped in the vents! This game is aimed at young people on any of the Nintendo DS handhelds. Customise your pets and direct them through different maze levels, and bring them home. The different levels will have different mechanics, features and colour palettes. Collect food bowls to reload your ammo to shoot food particles at dust bunnies and use water bowls to regain your health.
• Orphanage -
  This is a VR based horror game, aimed at more mature audiences, which can also be projected onto a monitor so other people can watch and see the reactions of the player. Piece together what happened to the little girl's parents and why she is haunting the orphanage, terrorising the other children. The player must hide from her phantom, as well as other she may have claimed along the way and collect clues to solve the mystery and bring peace to the child's spirit. The longer you take to help her, the more lives she may claim, and maybe yours if you're not careful!
• Daydream -
  This is an Indie Steam game designed for a kind of relaxation and to fuel a creative mind, or anyone who likes pretty things. The aesthetic should look kinda of pencil drawn, like Child of Light. The players start off in a plain white room. As they use the arrow keys to walk around, a stream of colour follows them around. Use the spacebar to 'develop' the area in front of them into something more intricate and detailed. These are randomly generated. Players can walk into the area created by toggling on the 'Explore' function by pressing shift. Come out of the area and into a new canvas by toggling 'Explore' off. Choose to create your world using a select palette or explore with random colours, and watch your world grow.
• Crime -
  This is a side scrolling game for the PC. Play as a detective and solve the crimes you encounter before the timer runs out and you need to move on. The more you solve, the faster the timer counts down. You have 3 chances before you're fired for incompetency and the game is over. Play for the highest score on the leaderboard.

These games are where I start to branch out into more than one word clues:

• Ladybug Guard -
  This is a colourful PC game designed to help children learn maths. They must figure out how many towers are needed to protect their home from various threats! The controls are simple; use the mouse to select the answer and then click around in the fields to build the tower defenses then watch them get to work!
• Summer No Release -
  You're on the verge of failing the year so you must go to Summer School and pass with flying colours or you'll be held back! Manage your time at the school, join clubs, solve problems and gain knowledge points to impress your tutors and your peers. This point and click game will require you to join classes to boost those points which will then unlock more activities.