So, you're sitting in a meeting. Maybe it's a brainstorming session. Maybe you're trying to resolve a screen layout fix, or adding a mechanical axis or two in order to spice up game-play. Or maybe you’re trying to come up with a new character type, or a funny upgrade, or a better power-up. Do you need a better feedback loop? Or a game title?
That's it! A game title! Your publisher's marketing team needs a new name for this game because Legal says the name you've been using for the last three months is already taken by a breakfast cereal!
You've been there, right?
Maybe it's Friday and everyone's tired. Folks have been pulling all-nighters to cram and crunch for alpha and now you've got a new creative mountain to climb.
But every idea you hear from your weekend-bound team is hackneyed, clichéd or just plain worn-out. Every artless idea you find yourself scribbling up on the white board leaves you longing for a hammer.
That's when it's time for Ideaball.
Ideaball breathes new life into the traditional brainstorm. It gets everyone up from the conference table, brings the group together and produces fresh ideas. The purpose of Ideaball is to get people to loosen up and say the first things that come to their minds—and then, fast as lightning, toss the ball to someone else. The pace feels like: Hurry up! Go! Throw!
How to Play Ideaball
STEP ONE: Have everyone in the room write one idea or just one word (related to the question at hand) on a piece of paper and hand their papers to you.
STEP TWO: Have everyone stand up and get in a circle.
STEP THREE: Read one page aloud and crinkle it up into a nice, tossable ball. You now hold in your hand the Ideaball.
STEP FOUR: Toss the Ideaball across the room to someone randomly in the group.
STEP FIVE: Here's the fun part: no one can hold the Ideaball more than three seconds. It’s sort of like playing Hot Potato: You've got to get rid of that ball right away and throw it to someone else in the group. But the only way you can release the ball is to shout out the first word that comes to your mind.
STEP SIX: If you run out of steam, or the Ideaball becomes too threadbare to sustain another toss, just pick up the next piece of paper, read aloud, crumple and toss. . . .
If done right, Ideaball gets the blood flowing back into a tired team, gets people thinking out of the box quickly and gets new ideas out on the table fast—it even lets people blow off a little steam when they're stuck.
At PlayFirst, we pull out the Ideaball on a regular basis. In fact, it was the method we used to come up with the name of one of our biggest hit titles this year. Here’s a snippet of what our Ideaball naming session was like:
Toss: Dreamster
Toss: Dreamiac
Toss: Dream Machine
Toss: Dream library
Toss: Writing
Toss: Squirrels
All: Squirrels?
Toss: Books
Toss: Bible
Toss: Lore
Toss: Chronicles
Hey! Chronicles! Dream Chronicles? Not bad. . . .
So there you have it: A little toss from PlayFirst. I suppose it may not fly around the tables of investment banking, or within the hallowed halls of Academe, but it works for us. And no, it has not eluded me that a game company has offered a game as a strategy for brainstorming, but hey, what did you expect? A spreadsheet?
Kenny Shea Dinkin was the Executive Producer on the Diner Dash line as well as on such top-selling products as Chocolatier, Dream Chronicles and Wedding Dash. He currently serves as Vice President and Creative Director at PlayFirst, where he is responsible for directing the company’s creative content and overseeing game design, art and animation, audio design, and character and story development. Prior to joining PlayFirst, Kenny was the worldwide head of product design for The Learning Company/Broderbund, where he was creative lead for a portfolio of premiere children's software brands, including Reader Rabbit, Carmen Sandiego, and The ClueFinders. Kenny earned a Bachelor's degree in History from Brown University and an M.F.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design. You can reach Kenny at kenny@playfirst.com.
