Hey I started a thread in the Help Wanted section about a 'random game project' to work on and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for a fun, easy-to-make game.

Puzzle games can be pretty simple (Tetris, Bejeweled) as long as they don't involve much in the way of physics. Avoid something like Peggle for now. Also avoid games that will require much AI. Simple action games like scrolling shooters are easy. Create a player ship and a bunch of stupid enemies to throw at at. As far as small games go, they're one of my favorite types to program.

Just check out PopCap for Big Fish Games for some ideas. They have all sorts of simple, easy to make games that are still fun.

Also, be sure your project will have simple graphics. Use 2D Images, and to make things even more simple you may want to avoid animation.

It depends on what you mean by "easy" (if such a thing even exists) - less complicated problems to solve, or less overall work to do.

If we're really talking about easy to make - 2D turn-based RPGs or point & click screen switching adventure games are some of the genres with the least mind-boggling programming and mathematical problems to solve if you're just starting out, and can still attract a small community of players if done well. Good adventure games are especially few and far between these days.

Roughly, you need to know how to load images, how to show them on the screen where you want them to be, how to update the screen, how to accept user input, and how to organize game data. This is the very bare bones of game development - it couldn't possibly get any simpler (textual / web interface notwithstanding).

On the off hand - such games normally require more grinding work if you actually want to complete it rather than lay out a prototype and move on. And you would definitely improve more as a programmer if you followed the advice from the post above mine - that is, by attempting to re-create some of the arcade classics. There are plenty of good tutorials around for those (although copy/pasting the code kind of defeats the purpose).

But you asked for easy, so there you go.

Well I already have experience with working on some simple games (there's one posted in the Your Announcements section), and I have a simple FPS game engine made in OpenGL with models I made in MilkShape 3D and maps in 'Quake Army Knife', and a long time ago I posted a 2D side-scroller 'village game' I programmed with HGE.

Right now I'm thinking about making a single-player mechwarrior/starsiege-type FPS game working with my game engine. That would allow the project to be able to include mappers, modellers, texture artists, GUI artists, designers, writers, musicians, but wouldn't require them as I could make any of that as bare minimums for maps, models, and textures, and I don't think it would take longer than a few weeks (or maybe a month or two) because I already have a game engine to use.

Toys might be easier for a beginner to make than games, because their features are more independent of each other and can be implemented one at a time. I've seen people do virtual paperdolls, interactive fishtanks, magnetic poetry or madlibs emulations, or a single character who can be poked or have items used on them.

Oh yeah that's true. I was thinking that the project could also involve an "experimental" game idea that might not even be a game but just trying out something cool (e.g., an AI or aritificial life sim).

Memory games shouldn't be too hard to make. Set up a bunch of card like images with a front side and a back side. Have two of each images and randomly place them on a grid with their front side hidden. Try to match them.

Can't get much simpler than that :)

For competitiveness, add a timed mode.

Thanks for all the advice, but we've now decided on a 3D RPG (using my game engine).