Stop what you're working on.

Words I like: Until you observe someone else play your game, it isn't a game. It's a figment of your imagination.

If I could beam one concept back in time, straight into my younger self's brain, it would be this:

Stop what you're working on.

Figure out what game you actually want to make (ideally find an existing reference game).

Now rush towards getting a shitty first v1 of that playable. Cut as many corners as possible. Don't make it perfect. Don't even make it good. Just make it real.

Once you've got the playable v1, and you observe someone else playing it...

The world of game design will open up to you. That's when game dev really begins.

It'll provide insane clarity on what the ACTUAL problems of the game are. Not what you imagine the problems to be.

It orients your todo list. It generates new ideas. It'll even crank up your motivation by 1000%.

So two weeks from now. Do your first playtest.

The game will be shit. That's okay. Whatever you do, just get it done.

The only way to generate the information of how to make the game better, is to watch users playing the game.

So start doing playtest oriented programming.

It took me wayyyy too long for this idea to sink it. I wasted years doing things in a complete echo chamber. Thinking I knew what I was doing. When in reality, I was just wasting time.

Hopefully this idea helps you make a game quicker, like it did for me.

On the topic of speeding things along, if you're interested in making a game using my tech stack, check this out.

Peace out ✌️

-randy

p.s - this meme just about sums it up