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6/21/2022

I get a different creative feeling when making games compared to making something linear. One of the only creative talents I have is a low tolerance for boredom, and being lazy enough that I won't force myself to continue making something I'm not interested in. When I make a song, or even write these posts, if I feel bored as I'm writing it, I'll use that as a cue to change what I'm doing. I haven't experienced this while making a boardgame, and my guess is that's because boardgames aren't linear.

The creative feeling I'm thinking of has to do with going down a linear path, and there's an obvious, cliche next step. Just being aware that the idea is cliche and obvious is a sign that you could do something different at that exact point in the song, narrative etc. It feels like you can change it into anything you want, and then you just build the rest of it off those changes. Since a boardgame is an interconnected system, there isn't one exact point where you can make a change like that. You need multiple parts to work together for any one of them to be interesting. It's hard to just take one individual part in a different direction without fundamentally changing what you've already made and what the game will end up as. More than coming up with new ideas, it kind of feels like trying to find a right answer. Coming up with the initial idea feels like you can go in any direction, but then coming up with ideas to build the game feels like finding a solution to fit what's already there.

Boredom and laziness do end up helping me with finding a solution though. I'm less interested in making a lot of extra parts and rules and systems for a game, so I want to find the simplest solution. Hopefully one day that will come off as elegant.