The MVP. The Vertical Slice. The Game Demo. This threat takes many forms. How should we approach this beast in game development? We’ll talk about their obvious benefits, examine where they falter, and discuss shifting away from rigid milestones.
The Old Ways
The Prototype is dangerous for the same reason the old ways before the dawn of agile are dangerous. Long ago, an accepted development model was to build a product like you were building a house. Draw a blueprint, gather materials, then build from the foundation up. Once you started however, you couldn’t change certain critical things based on the original idea. Screwed something up in the blueprint? Chose the wrong materials? Tough luck, you either started over or you were stuck with it. Said another way, you were either behind schedule, low on funds, or destined for mediocrity. We had to find a smarter way to anticipate the design mistakes baked into our blueprints from the very start.
The Prototype
Rick Rubin, famed music producer who helped define the sound of countless artists, emphasizes the need to experiment. He reminds us that,
“To dismiss an idea because it doesn’t work in your mind is to do a disservice to the art. The only way to truly know if any idea works is to test it. And if you’re looking for the best idea, test everything.”
In games, “test everything” = “play everything" and so a new hero emerged, The Prototype, sweeping in to save the day. It’s like creating a basic but livable space, then refining it. The brilliant game design you love might flop under the scrutiny of real time interactivity. And sometimes, what seems boring or frustrating on paper can be exactly what you need. Ignoring an idea because it doesn’t play well in your mind kills creativity. It must be prototyped.
The Prototype was brilliant long before computers. The title of this post is not ‘Skip The Prototype’ but it has become a trap in practice. It’s still often rigid, stifling early creativity. We’ve swapped one rigid model for another. It’s obviously a better model, yet still wholly insufficient.
Even in pre-production, some teams fall into the old ways. They focus on perfecting the killer pitch, creating a glorious blueprint, high on the idea, driven more by ego than experimentation. The prototype kickoff draws nearer and they fight for their darlings like it’s the last chance to have a good idea, and they are dead right. Then the prototype enters production. Partway into the Prototype schedule, the mechanic is finally playable and we’re disheartened to find it so flawed. Fear from straying from the all-mighty sprint and milestone has stifled experimentation.
Stop Guessing, Start Playing
To distance ourselves from this trap, we can distance ourselves from the product. We can distinguish the prototype phase, or the practice of protoyp-ing, from any product we schedule towards, The Prototype (or Vertical Slice or First Playable). This is not about seeing the journey as its own reward. By separating the practice of prototyping from the product, we can better address inefficiencies brought about by the pressures of production (within pre-production). This is a call for flexibility and open-mindedness starting from the inception of an idea. It’s about experimenting instantly with every idea, even those that don’t initially resonate. Stop trying to play it perfectly and start exploring what plays well. This isn’t about finding the right idea. It’s more about breaking free from the delusion of confidence in the right idea, and the peace of mind you gain after playing it.
So, just stop guessing.
I’m not trying to outright murder the value of having a strong vision for what is and isn’t fun. I’m trying to make the most of your vision, no matter who you are. You’ve likely already had creative sparks whether it is your job or a nagging at your subconscious as a hopeful game developer or student. You are headed for prototyping in either case, and I believe in your ideas’ potential and I believe in your taste. In order to expediently realize them, perhaps we need to shift our trust from, to rebalance the scales away from, the ethereal visionary. Layer in the primal instinct of the player. Feed and defer to the simple emotional delight of play that brought us all to games in the first place. It is through an unwavering commitment to an extreme collaboration between your ideas and reflexive response as a player that you will quickly discover the game you want to make.