Hey peeps, I'm new here. I have something I want to discuss. Prototyping. Inspired by this great video by Tom Francis I want to discuss what people look for in a prototype in order to move forward into full production. Here are the main points he looks for (I think, its a bit rambling).

1. A prototype that clicks really fast
   • Gunpoint "clicked really fast".
   • The idea should be obvious what game it wanted to be.
   • Heat Signature took ages to get the structure right.
2. What he wants to a prototype to show:
   • A: "The cool mechanic you thought of, does work"
   • B: "As soon as it does work, you can see how to build a game around it".
3. The prototype gives a lot of return on investment
   • Ideas can be implemented easily.
   • Can finish the game quickly & efficiently.
4. Prototypes don't need a "big idea" to be great
   • "Boarding spaceships" was the big idea, but not what made Heat Signature good game.
   • What Heat Signature "must have" to be great was the ability to pause and loads of interesting gadgets.
   • The big idea can still be useful for marketing, to get people excited quickly.
5. Is the prototype "easy to make"
   • How the design of the game makes it suitable for a tiny team of people.
   • Into The Breach has a single screen that shows all the play field, so you don't need to implement a camera.
6. Quick to create a core loop
   • Its easier to make that better once the core loop is established.
   • Its easy to expand on the idea once it is established,

As someone who is currently trying out a prototype based on an initial idea, I think this is a great way to think about it and also know when to change the idea, or even move onto a new concept.

Is anyone else currently prototyping? Do they have experience of what is discussed here? Has anyone been through the prototype stage successfully and gone on to make a great game out of it?

I think you'll find that everybody here is in some kind of prototype stage or another.   I'm not sure how many of us actually have a process called "Prototyping" where we consider the prototype finished at a certain point.  My goal is always a finished, playable game.  My prototype stage is just me figuring out if things are possible or not.  This methodology could be handy if you are looking to drum up funding to finish a game.  Or if you are just building a prototype to sell to somebody else.  But I'm not a strict procedure following kind of person anyhow.