This is a video of Kyle Gabler‘s keynote to Global Game Jam 2009. I’ve been meaning to post this since I first saw it. I found it super inspiring!

7.  Adjust Expectations – Don’t strive for the next AAA hit, limit your expectations to something reasonable.

6. Create a Low Barrier of Entry – Make sure its fun within the first 15 seconds. Title screen, concise instructions, and jump into gameplay! Please forget the drawn out backstory.

5. Feel Something – Feel music to inspire, have an emotional target.

4. Make the Toy First – Prototype the idea to see if it even works before commiting!

3. Audio! – Sound is super important, make sure it’s not slapped on last minute. Involve it in the design of the game.

2. Harmony – “Think of how you can achieve harmony economincally.” Make sure everything that you have (music, art, gameplay) fits together.

1. Never Fall in Love – Free yourself to experiment with new ideas and don’t get too attached!

I don’t necessary feel that these are laws of game design, but they are very helpful philosophies to be able to complete a game prototype in an accelerated timeframe. I tend to fall in love with every game idea I have, which is why I have so many illegitimate prototypes running through my project folders.

“Indie games are the new form of self expression for the motivated misfit. I’m blown away by little Flash games oozing with style made by kids who aren’t even old enough to drink, wtf? The community of lovable and terrifyingly capable indie developers is steadily making big budgets irrelevant.”

-Kyle Gabler

From a Gamasutra interview on The World of Goo as part of their “Road to the IGF” series.

Gabler and Ron Carmel are coming from 2D boy. After a glance at their main page, I stumbled across Gabler’s Human Brain Cloud; one of a number of interesting experiments Gabler is running. Seemingly useless data . . . I’d like to put it to use.

-Christopher J. Rock