Small games are the way to start

Like most new game developers, I have an idea of what a great game will look like.

It would be something similar to Diablo 1. I loved everything about it.

I learned that I have an ability. I’m great at starting projects. The counterpart is that I’m terrible at completing them.

The first game I decided to start with is called Hope. It is still a thing in my head and my heart.

I started it, and it was great. Making a lot of progress! The code grew and became complex. My excitement was gone!

Bad code drains energy; it is expensive to keep it working!

I started another game, and another, and another.

The frustration was growing with the number of unfinished games.

Of course, there is a good and a bad way of doing things. I found out the bad, and I wanted to learn the good.

I talked with some experienced game developers, and they all said the same thing.

Create small games, a lot of those.

That’s where I’m at now. I’ll work on small games and join some Game Jams.

I have a list of games I want to create. They have different mechanics. It will be fun.

I don’t know in which order I’ll create them, but I will.

• Flappy pixel - Flappy Bird clone: the bird flies to avoid infinite obstacles.
• Gravity Flip Runner - Side platform. Character is always running. The player inverts the gravity to avoid obstacles.
• Match-3 Panic - Puzzle match-3. Gems falling on an 8x8 grid. Chains explode everything of the same colour.
• Wave Blaster - Top-down shooter: ship at the centre of the screen. Waves of enemies are spawning in circles. Shoot bullets, dodge bullets. Final boss.
• Dungeon Dash - Roguelike mini: 5 rooms procedurally generated. Collect keys, avoid traps, kill 1-2 enemies per room. Permadeath.
• Bounce Puzzle - Physics puzzle: ball bouncing in fixed/moving blocks.
• Rhythm Dash - Rhythm game: run between tracks, jump/make decisions based on the music beat. One song.
• Tower Mini-Defence - 1 linear map, 3 upgradable towers. Ten enemy waves. Killing makes money.
• Snake Physics - Snake with physics. Eat fruits to grow, but keep the body flexible.
• Colour Switcher - Endless puzzle: a colored circle spins; the circle is made of blocks. Blobs are falling, and they change the colour of the block they touch. Score per streak.