Game Project Management

Week 1 Homework: Forming Your Team; Game Business Evolution

“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich

Part I: Formatting Your Business Identity

This week you acquired a Job Title and joined a Company (Team) identified by a color and a symbol (red heart, white star, blue moon, yellow sun, buff lightning, or pink smile). Part I of your homework this week is to give your team a 'corporate identity;' that is to create a set of ideas including a business name, logo, and motto that your Team will be known as when you meet the client. For example:

·      Company name: Way Late Games

·      Motto: You know it's great when you're playing Way Late.

·      Logo: A picture of a melting clock reading 3am

Think about this during the week, making notes of your three best ideas, and bring them to class next week. (Make sure that you have more than one set of ideas to present to the group!) Your Team will make its final decision at a meeting in class next week as to your team's corporate identity.

This is an important accomplishment and serves as a springboard for next week's homework assignment which is to develop your corporate identity in print. Your corporate identity and 'look' will be graded (awarding up to 12 total points, due at the beginning of Week 4; see the Current Grades page for a breakdown of how this is scored).

Part II: Game Storming

Don't forget why you're in business, either! There's a client out there waiting to hear from you; thus it's also your job this week to come up with game ideas to meet the client's needs. You can read up on the client and what your Biz Dev has told you about the client's needs by checking the web site. Bring your three best game ideas written up as Inception Documents to discuss with your Team. In addition to settling on your corporate identity in class next week (see above), you'll also be choosing what game your going to pitch to the client!

And here's a great article that will help you come up with the right game idea: If You've Tried Everything Imaginable And Your Product Still Won't Sell, Here's What You're Missing, by Steve Pavlina, CEO of Dexterity Software.

Before you bring your ideas into class, give them the 10-Minute Game Sales Potential Test. This brief article is amazingly insightful about game ideas and how things really work in the game industry. Here are the core questions:

The Test

1. Is the Game Distinctive?

   1. Does it stand out viscerally?
   2. Does the gameplay stand out?

   3. Does it involve the player socially in a unique way?
       

2. Can the Game Reach a Large Market?

   1. Is the idea behind the game easy to communicate?

   2. Is the game based on something the market already knows and loves?

   3. Is the target market large?

That’s it. The more questions you answer “Yes” to, the easier your game will be to sell.

Finally, consider the market by reading this brilliant article! If this doesn't help your company find the right game for the right reasons, then you didn't read it!

Note: your Biz Dev can help you with the selection of a game that best meets the client's needs. This selection is very important and will be graded by the Biz Dev (awarding up to 8 points for each member of your Team when its Concept Document is due at the beginning of Week 4).