I’m both lucky and unlucky here when it comes to theme. I can choose literally anything…which means I don’t have any guide as to what I can pick. So I just have to not be stuck with indecision.
Given my game type, I need a theme that
- I can discuss with friends and family, so not too obscure and something they would like
- I can find a character type and an objective for an idle game
- I can grow the design of the game by adding features, so not too narrow
The theme I’ve picked is witches and magic. This gives a simple starting point – you are a witch (which in my world can be male or female) and you need to gather power.
What exactly power means I’m going to allow to form later – this isn’t something I’d do for a commercial game as you need a definite end point, but for the sake of this blog and for a casual developer, this is something I can think about while I get stuck into the initial game loops.
So for the sake of the initial first stab, the first resource you will gather is herbs. The scene is set: You are a witch, living in a cottage in the middle of a forest. You can go into the forest to gather herbs for your magic, and with enough herbs you can plant a herb garden to produce even more herbs over time.
Next step: What language do I use? The questions for me to think about is can I find a language and development environment that, amongst other things:
- Can make a web based game
- Is not too unusual so the tutorials have some value
- Is available for free
- Doesn’t restrict distribution and has flexibility to change platform