Hello,

I'm currently working on a new idea for a game that I want to build. A simple 2D platformer. I write “simple”, but we all know that there's no such thing as simple in this branch.

My question however is, how to get ideas validated?
I can write out my design document, collect information, and prepare artwork and screenshots, but if I don't share this with someone, it's kind of hard to get feedback about how sane these ideas would be.

I was thinking to use the #screenshotsaturday hash tag on Twitter, but I was wondering if people have other ideas on how they collect basic feedback in the early stages of their game process.

Olivar said:
how to get ideas validated? … it's kind of hard to get feedback about how sane these ideas would be. I was thinking to use the #screenshotsaturday hash tag on Twitter, but I was wondering if people have other ideas on how they collect basic feedback in the early stages of their game process.

The crowdsource idea is one way to go. But the feedback you'll get will probably be all over the place, and you probably won't get a lot of responses. You can pay a consultant or hire a marketing firm, but somehow I doubt you want to go that way. But I can probably give you the answers right here, without even seeing your game, assuming you want to know standard questions:

“Is the game idea good?” - Sure. It's a fine game idea. The real trick is implementation.

“Will it make back my investment?” - No. It won't.

What other kind of feedback do you want besides those two standard questions? I think you should just go ahead and make your game. Have confidence in your ideas. Learn by doing.

Hey Tom,

thank you for the candid feedback. Those 2 questions weren't part of the feedback I was looking for however xD.
I was more thinking about game mechanics etc. To give you an example:

• The player can unlock double jump
• The player can unlock wall climbing

Would the combination of those mechanics appeal to people?
I can probably come up with a bunch of answers myself to each question, and I can definitely see your point about not getting the kind of feedback I'm looking for.
I think I'll follow your advice for now, and stick with my concept, build a prototype and just take it from there!

Olivar said:
I think I'll follow your advice for now, and stick with my concept, build a prototype and just take it from there!

Sounds good!