If you haven't yet played our entry Parking Ltd., a game where you try your best to correct the problems created by an AI valet driver, we'd appreciate any feedback!

In the last few days of rating, I wanted to share some of our design process and how I think we "found the fun" halfway through. It was a validating example of prototyping, and hopefully an example you all can appreciate!

Brainstorming

At this point, our team has come up with several guidelines for ideas that we agree to avoid: generally games with a lot of content generation or that aren't fulfilling until you create enough of it. In those cases, running out of time will really zap your success.

One of the ideas we thought sounded fun at its core was trying to park and return cars in a tiny lot. The system seemed simple and allowed more time for prototyping and polishing, so we started the first evening setting up the controllers and the patron system.

_ behold our beautiful concept sketch _

The Valley

Once we had a functioning prototype, including some models, we quickly realized that picking up cars, driving them into the lot, and then returning them to patrons was both simple and tedious. The most fun was driving the cars around, especially with the deformation physics @tempest-smh worked in, but that wasn't enough of a game.

We had to "find the fun" and solve the issues of the core mechanic being neither motivating nor challenging.

It's hard to reach this valley, when the fun you thought you had initially found just isn't sustained.

The Problem

We felt that the core of the problem was the lack of constraint. The challenge was supposed to be that the lot would fill up over time, making it hard to get the right car back to the right patron.

When the player controlled where the cars were parked, there was nothing to enforce that challenge.

We looked at designing the solution a few ways: 1) What if there was something the player had to do before returning the car, like a washing station? 2) What if we focused on the fun of demolition somehow, and made that the point?

The Solution

We looked to one of this game's inspirations, PlateUp!, for a solution. One way that they solve the problem of tedium is by having other players in the game, and sharing tasks. There! A potential solution was evident.

* What if the player wasn't in control of where the cars were parked? *

Instead, if an AI parked the car haphazardly, then the player was responsible for overcoming the mishaps. Would this be frustrating? Would it even solve the problem? The only way to find out was to prototype it and try it.

Summary

Did our idea solve the issue? We think the end result is much more fun than the first prototype, and that really emphasized the importance of prototyping fast and testing often, because the original ideations may not always be the final version.

But we'd love you to come and decide for yourself :D And if you learned something, or have other ideas, please share them below!

* Play Parking Ltd. *

Happy Parking! _ - Hawkin _