# Game Brainstorming Context

This context guide provides game-specific considerations for brainstorming sessions focused on game design and development.

## Session Focus Areas

When brainstorming for games, consider exploring:

- **Core Gameplay Loop** - What players do moment-to-moment
- **Player Fantasy** - What identity/power fantasy does the game fulfill?
- **Game Mechanics** - Rules and interactions that define play
- **Game Dynamics** - Emergent behaviors from mechanic interactions
- **Aesthetic Experience** - Emotional responses and feelings evoked
- **Progression Systems** - How players grow and unlock content
- **Challenge and Difficulty** - How to create engaging difficulty curves
- **Social/Multiplayer Features** - How players interact with each other
- **Narrative and World** - Story, setting, and environmental storytelling
- **Art Direction and Feel** - Visual style and game feel
- **Monetization** - Business model and revenue approach (if applicable)

## Game Design Frameworks

### MDA Framework

- **Mechanics** - Rules and systems (what's in the code)
- **Dynamics** - Runtime behavior (how mechanics interact)
- **Aesthetics** - Emotional responses (what players feel)

### Player Motivation (Bartle's Taxonomy)

- **Achievers** - Goal completion and progression
- **Explorers** - Discovery and understanding systems
- **Socializers** - Interaction and relationships
- **Killers** - Competition and dominance

### Core Experience Questions

- What does the player DO? (Verbs first, nouns second)
- What makes them feel powerful/competent/awesome?
- What's the central tension or challenge?
- What's the "one more turn" factor?

## Recommended Brainstorming Techniques

### Game Design Specific Techniques

(These are available as additional techniques in game brainstorming sessions)

- **MDA Framework Exploration** - Design through mechanics-dynamics-aesthetics
- **Core Loop Brainstorming** - Define the heartbeat of gameplay
- **Player Fantasy Mining** - Identify and amplify player power fantasies
- **Genre Mashup** - Combine unexpected genres for innovation
- **Verbs Before Nouns** - Focus on actions before objects
- **Failure State Design** - Work backwards from interesting failures
- **Ludonarrative Harmony** - Align story and gameplay
- **Game Feel Playground** - Focus purely on how controls feel

### Standard Techniques Well-Suited for Games

- **SCAMPER Method** - Innovate on existing game mechanics
- **What If Scenarios** - Explore radical gameplay possibilities
- **First Principles Thinking** - Rebuild game concepts from scratch
- **Role Playing** - Generate ideas from player perspectives
- **Analogical Thinking** - Find inspiration from other games/media
- **Constraint-Based Creativity** - Design around limitations
- **Morphological Analysis** - Explore mechanic combinations

## Output Guidance

Effective game brainstorming sessions should capture:

1. **Core Concept** - High-level game vision and hook
2. **Key Mechanics** - Primary gameplay verbs and interactions
3. **Player Experience** - What it feels like to play
4. **Unique Elements** - What makes this game special/different
5. **Design Challenges** - Obstacles to solve during development
6. **Prototype Ideas** - What to test first
7. **Reference Games** - Existing games that inspire or inform
8. **Open Questions** - What needs further exploration

## Integration with Game Development Workflow

Game brainstorming sessions typically feed into:

- **Game Briefs** - High-level vision and core pillars
- **Game Design Documents (GDD)** - Comprehensive design specifications
- **Technical Design Docs** - Architecture for game systems
- **Prototype Plans** - What to build to validate concepts
- **Art Direction Documents** - Visual style and feel guides

## Special Considerations for Game Design

### Start With The Feel

- How should controls feel? Responsive? Weighty? Floaty?
- What's the "game feel" - the juice and feedback?
- Can we prototype the core interaction quickly?

### Think in Systems

- How do mechanics interact?
- What emergent behaviors arise?
- Are there dominant strategies or exploits?

### Design for Failure

- How do players fail?
- Is failure interesting and instructive?
- What's the cost of failure?

### Player Agency vs. Authored Experience

- Where do players have meaningful choices?
- Where is the experience authored/scripted?
- How do we balance freedom and guidance?
