Martin on 2009/08/02 12:49:

When I'm low on inspiration, what I do is play a bunch of games. Go to a flash games website like Kongregate and just play a whole bunch of stuff. Have a look at the entrants to recent TIGSource competitions. Heck, even go back to previous Pyweeks and look at the entrants. Don't just look at the good, popular games, look at them all.

Then steal ideas like crazy. The number of video games which have been made in all history is enormous. You're never going to think of an idea that nobody has thought of before. However, if you steal ideas from enough places, and combine them in interesting ways, you can produce something that feels fresh.

Finally, don't worry too much about being original. Your ideas seem stale to you because you came up with them. Nobody ever thinks their own ideas are ground-breakingly original, because they can always see where they came from. When others look at your ideas, they're doing it from a completely different standpoint, and what seems dull and uninspired to you can seem wonderfully creative to others.

Akake on 2009/08/04 19:00:

Thanks for the advice, everyone! ^_^

I've run into issues with my work (Namely Custom Robo :-D), but I have an idea that I can implement... Jeez, I could manage it in a day of commando coding if I push myself. XD

It's an interesting idea, though. Not groundbreaking (It's a driving game with toy cars), but It's an okay idea.

I have to hand it to Pymike, though. He lasted longer with platformers than I did! :-)

I've also noticed that I have a sweet spot for creativity between three and four in the morning.

Anyways, thanks for the advice. I really appreciate the support.

---Akake

Tee on 2009/08/05 15:20:

Keep an idea journal. Whenever you have an idea that could turn into an interesting game, write it down as soon as you have the chance. You tend to forget these things.

Usually creative ideas come when you're relaxed. Think about them in the shower, when you're going to sleep, etc.

It also might be a good idea to whenever you see something interesting, game or non-game related, you make yourself the question, "How can I turn this into a game?", even if it's just for fun. You might end up with a nice idea out of it. This is basically devon's advice, but what I'm adding is, keep that question in mind and ask it often, not just when you need an idea for a game.

Don't get carried away just because you have a good idea, it has to be one you know you're able to implement in a week. This is advice I myself should pay attention to, since the last two Pyweeks I went with more than I could handle.

I also second Martin's advice. Play games. Tweak others' ideas. Extract interesting things. Often, good unimplemented ideas are intersections of tweaked implemented ideas. Flash games are particularly good for this because they're easily accessible, usually show their ideas right away and tend to not consume too much of your time per game.

nitrofurano on 2009/08/06 13:36:

Another good idea is keeping track of what is happening in the indie game development world - reading http://www.indiegames.com/blog/ from rss news readers (i'm using Liferea on Linux, for example) can be a good idea. (http://www.indiegames.com/blog/atom.xml is the direct url of the rss entries)