One of the fun things about making a game is that you don't necessarily need to start with an idea for a game.
You can start with something you're already interested in.
Animals. Sport. Mythology. Fashion. Rocks. Anime. Dinosaurs. Trains. Baking. A fictional world you've been developing for the past two years.
Then you can ask: What could someone do with this?
Could you make a game about frogs?
Of course.
You could make a game where you're trying to create the perfect habitat for different frog species.
You could play as a tadpole trying to survive long enough to become a frog.
You could collect frog cards with different abilities.
You could race frogs through an obstacle course.
You could run a frog rescue centre.
You could create a fantasy world in which sophisticated frog societies are battling for control of the swamp.
Same interest, very different games.
What about a favourite sport?
Sport already comes with rules, competition and statistics, so there's plenty of material to play with. But making a sports game doesn't have to mean recreating the sport itself.
A football fan might make a game about building a team.
Players could draft athletes with different strengths, manage a budget, deal with injuries and decide on tactics.
Someone else might create a card game based on player statistics.
Or a game about running a tournament.
Or travelling around the world attending major sporting events.
Or being the hardworking groundskeeper desperately trying to prepare a stadium while everything goes wrong.
Sometimes the strange side route is much more interesting.
Could an animal obsession become a game?
Yes!
Animals come with habitats, behaviours, adaptations, relationships, threats and different needs. That creates all sorts of possibilities.
Maybe you're running an animal rescue centre and have limited space, money and time.
Maybe you're a migratory bird trying to reach your destination.
Maybe players are wildlife photographers competing to spot different species.
Maybe you're collecting animals for a fictional field guide.
Maybe each animal has different abilities based loosely on its real adaptations.
Or perhaps the animals have formed a government and you are now dealing with the consequences of electing a Tasmanian Devil as mayor.
Research can become part of this without needing to be assigned separately. If you want your peregrine falcon card to have realistic abilities, you might suddenly need to know quite a lot about peregrine falcons.
What about characters and imaginary worlds?
Some kids already have enough material for a game. They just haven't turned it into one.
They might have original characters with personalities, histories, relationships and abilities. They might know exactly where those characters live. There may be maps and political systems. There may be several thousand words of lore that nobody else entirely understands.
Instead of asking them to invent a completely new idea for a game, they could start inside that existing world.
What do the characters want?
What could go wrong?
Are there different groups with competing goals?
Could players take on different characters?
Does the world contain resources, creatures, locations, powers or objects that could become part of the game?
The world might become a roleplaying adventure, card battle, strategy game, interactive story or something else entirely.
Could you make a game about collecting rocks?
Maybe players explore different locations looking for particular specimens. Some finds could be common. Others could be extremely rare. Perhaps you can trade.
Maybe you're trying to complete a collection.
Maybe different rocks earn points based on their characteristics.
Maybe the goal isn't to have the biggest collection but to complete particular sets.
Or perhaps we're abandoning geology altogether and the rocks are sentient beings with personalities and grudges.
The point is that even an interest that doesn't immediately sound like a game idea can become one once you start asking what players could actually do.
What about public transport?
You're in charge of a city's transport network. People need to get places. You have limited money. One train has broken down. There are too many passengers waiting at one station. Someone has decided to hold a major event on the same weekend that half your network is closed for maintenance.
A transport interest could become a route-building game, a strategy game, a puzzle, a card game or a simulation.
A learner who knows a lot about trains, buses or transport networks can use that knowledge. Their expertise is the material.
So how do you turn an interest into a game?
You don't need to begin with complicated rules.
1. Start with the interest.
Capybaras.
2. Give the player something they want.
Build the best capybara sanctuary.
3. Put something in the way.
You have limited space and resources, different capybaras have different needs, and new animals keep arriving.
4. Give the player choices.
Which animals will you take in? What will you build? Where will you spend your resources? What will you do when something unexpected happens?
That's already the beginning of a game.
It doesn't need a beautifully designed board or a complete set of rules yet. It just needs something for the player to try to do.
The interest doesn't have to be educational
You don't need to steer the idea towards a topic that looks more obviously academic.
A game about Greek mythology isn't automatically more worthwhile than a game about a favourite anime-inspired character.
A wildlife conservation game isn't inherently better learning than a game about running a chaotic cat café.
The interesting thinking comes from what the learner does with the idea.
They have to decide how things work.
They make rules.
They consider choices and consequences.
They notice problems.
They test ideas.
They change things that aren't working.
And depending on the game they create, they might find themselves writing, drawing, researching, calculating probabilities, balancing numbers, creating physical objects or learning digital tools along the way.
Turn an interest into a game with Game Makers
Game Makers is a nuro co homeschool project that gives learners room to create a game around their own ideas and interests.
There's no required theme and no single kind of game everyone needs to make. A learner can begin with the games they enjoy, the things they're already fascinated by, or an idea that appears somewhere along the way.
From there, they can develop how their game works, make a playable version, try it out and change their ideas as the project develops.
So yep, you probably can make a game about almost anything.
What would you make a game about?
