If you want to get into the field of game design, you will need to have more than just an idea. Ideas are not worth anything by themselves. The reason for this is because it is very easy to come up with game ideas, practically anyone can think of game ideas- they are a dime a dozen these days. It all comes down to implementing your idea well. You will need to have a design document ready for your game, you cannot just jump right in and work on your game. Planning is a must in the world of game design, if you fail to plan, you are most certainly planning to fail.

What to do when the initial design isn't fun?

First, start off with some initial planning about your game. Determine the roles characters play, the game mechanics and rules, and what the overall objective of the game would be. Try to make your game different from games that already exist; avoid direct clones. It is okay to design a game inspired by an existing game, but try to add your own twist to it.

A problem may arise however: What if, after you've actually implemented what you have planned, the game is not as fun as you thought it would be? Sure, it sounds fun on paper, but it can end up completely different than what you expected.

A good solution to this problem is to hire some testers that will play your game and give you opinions of it. You may have gone through several gameplay revamps of your games, and you should test them after each iteration to see if players are actually thinking it is fun. Thus, the final game may end up quite different than planned.

Is the game innovative enough?

Do you think that is it absolutely required to be innovative? Innovation is a bit overrated; the overall fun of the game is more important than innovation is. Even if you have a list of zany or weird ideas that you want to implement, they may not turn out to be that fun in the end most of the time.

After all, gamers are continuing to buy the titles with huge roman numerals after them, and you seldom hear complaints that "this game isn't innovative enough". Although one should avoid direct clones of other games, there maybe is such a thing as trying too hard to be innovative and not worrying about the fun factor.

John Xavier is a freeware game designer and programmer. Check out unique, fun games at Z2 Games.