Getting an idea sounds easier than it actually is. When you are working with a team of people, finding a shared vision can be hard, every person in the group needs to equally contribute in the discussion and feel like the final product is something they believe in, something that keeps them motivated throughout development. There are many techniques that can help brainstorming sessions, some of which are already gamified and use games (often board or card games) to stimulate people’s creativity. However, the biggest downside is that these techniques often require a pre-existing kit, something that must be bought and learned in advance in order to participate in the game.
During my staying in Breda, I helped my good friend and colleague Thomas Buijtenweg build a simple system to generate and prototype ideas that did not require any deck or tool to be used. The system we created- called User Generated Stories – takes a few minutes to learn, is very easy to adapt to different circumstances and groups, and most importantly, only requires a few sheets of paper and a pen. Below you can see a lovely video of how the system works
The idea behind the system is very simple: using the traditional paradigm of actor-action-result, players start writing some game mechanics they are familiar with or from games they have worked on. At this stage, comfort should be the highest, since they are just formalizing their knowledge. Once they are done, cards are mixed together and the drawing starts. This phase has a small percentage of discomfort, as the players need to familiarize with the system and get in the mood. Once all groups are familiar with the mechanics and start to produce interesting results, we increase the discomfort by switching one of the three decks between tables. Depending on how the event is going, it is also possible to move all three decks between tables, the rules are not set in stone and will depend on people being able to read the room.
Unfortunately the system was developed right before COVID struck, and we ended up focusing our energies on more important things (such as writing PhD theses). Still, I hope one day we can get back to it, I think the system has some good potential!