Game Idea Generators!

[Amysaurus]

Hey guys!

Sometimes it's really difficult to get inspiration for a project, so I thought I'd list a few of my favorite resources for ideas. If you have any you enjoy using, feel free to share them, and I'll add them to the list.


Story & Plot generators:

> http://www.insanityjam.com/idea/ - It's completely random, often produces humorous mismatched words, but is easy to find inspiration from. And it has a LOT of genres to choose from.

> http://orteil.dashnet.org/gamegen - Simple and effective, this site gives you a game idea, and if you don't like if, just click for a new one. Repeat ad infinitum.

> http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index.php - One of my favorites, this generator lets you pick your genre, and how many story ideas it provides you with, from 1 to 10. If you go to the main site, you'll find generators for everything from skill names to item names.

> http://writingexercises.co.uk/index.php - While it's technically a writing resource, this site gives you a little bit of everything. You can generate a plot, you can create a character, and you can even create their dialogue.
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Map & Location generators:

> http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/demo.html - Simple, and if nothing else super neat, this generator comes up with a map for you, and allows you to look at it in all sorts of views. Also it's open source and free for commercial use.
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Name generators:

> http://fantasynamegenerators.com/ - An awesome resource if you need help coming up with names. You can pick from all sorts of name categories, and also by what region of the world they're based off of. Also has resources for naming weapons, items, and locations.

> http://rinkworks.com/namegen/ - Another great name generator. You can choose from a number of categories - even insults! Try it out, you anklepuff!

> http://videogamena.me/ - More silly than anything, this site generates a random title for a video game. Don't tell me you don't suddenly want to make Fatal Sloth Bandits a thing.

 

[Micro]

Awesome, thanks for the list! I plan on creating on too~ (...really need to get started on that rofl)

Wish I knew how to make ones like these, but beggars can't be choosers I guess. xD Definitely gonna try these out!

 

[Eien Nanashi]

These look useful! That Seventh Sanctum one might be my favorite, too.

May I suggest another name generator?

http://rinkworks.com/namegen/ - It's a pretty good one, IMO.

Don't tell me you don't suddenly want to make Fatal Sloth Bandits a thing.

But Amy, what about Disturbing Platypus Carnage?

 

[LTN Games]

Ohhh, I like this, thank you for sharing. I believe these will come in handy whenever another game dev contest starts around here. Thanks again

 

[ArchiaArt]

I have two articles I can really recommend! They aren't so much generators as idea starters, but it gives a similar result xD

The Big List of RPG Plots - Lists... well, plots! And also ways to twist them, so you can surprise the player!
Application of Puzzle Theory - Describes different kinds of puzzles you can put in your game! It is aimed at adventure game devs, but I think his advice is applicable across all genres.

 

[MinisterJay]

Thanks for all these idea links @Amysaurus . Sometimes we get brain cramps, and new ideas might need a little jump start. Also thanks to @ArchiaArt , for the puzzle diversification.

 

[Companion Wulf]

Seventh Sanctum is the best one in my opinion!

There's also this one: Insanity Jam.
It's completely random, often produces humorous mismatched words, but is easy to find inspiration from. And it has a LOT of genres to choose from.

 

[CT_Bolt]

Oh wow! What a great thread! Thanks for this.

 

[Orange Jones]

Oh boy, I love these. Especially the seventhsanctum one.

The story is about a guild of brutal librarians. It starts in a planetary theocracy on a war-scarred planet.

I think it just told me to write a story about 40K Tech Priests...

 

[SonarCero]

Very nice list, I tend to use Seventh Sanctum for a lot of different things and a DND map generator to get ideas for map layouts.

 

[jdh34]

Very nice i sure could do with resources like these

 

[ArisaChan]

Good list Amy-chan!!

 

[Caesar Harris]

Hey guys!

Sometimes it's really difficult to get inspiration for a project, so I thought I'd list a few of my favorite resources for ideas. If you have any you enjoy using, feel free to share them, and I'll add them to the list.


Story & Plot generators:

> http://www.insanityjam.com/idea/ - It's completely random, often produces humorous mismatched words, but is easy to find inspiration from. And it has a LOT of genres to choose from.

> http://orteil.dashnet.org/gamegen - Simple and effective, this site gives you a game idea, and if you don't like if, just click for a new one. Repeat ad infinitum.

> http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index.php - One of my favorites, this generator lets you pick your genre, and how many story ideas it provides you with, from 1 to 10. If you go to the main site, you'll find generators for everything from skill names to item names.

> http://writingexercises.co.uk/index.php - While it's technically a writing resource, this site gives you a little bit of everything. You can generate a plot, you can create a character, and you can even create their dialogue.
- - - - - - -


Map & Location generators:

> http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/demo.html - Simple, and if nothing else super neat, this generator comes up with a map for you, and allows you to look at it in all sorts of views. Also it's open source and free for commercial use.
- - - - - - -


Name generators:

> http://fantasynamegenerators.com/ - An awesome resource if you need help coming up with names. You can pick from all sorts of name categories, and also by what region of the world they're based off of. Also has resources for naming weapons, items, and locations.

> http://rinkworks.com/namegen/ - Another great name generator. You can choose from a number of categories - even insults! Try it out, you anklepuff!

> http://videogamena.me/ - More silly than anything, this site generates a random title for a videos game. Don't tell me you don't suddenly want to make Fatal Sloth Bandits a thing.

Well, often times life is the best inspiration. I know we all (or most of us) like to stay in our cozy dens sipping hot chocolate and listening to soft EDM tracks and pixel art away, but to be frank, I've found most of my story ideas in random moments in day to day life. When I'm out and observing the world, just thinking about how strange something is, or trying to explain or make sense of some mistake someone made, which is my nature, I usually come up with brilliant starts for ideas. I don't have any online resources to link, because that'd probably defeat the whole purpose of my whole shtick, but I do have a suggestion. Put your things down, and go eat with a friend, or coffee, go out and sit in your backyard, just sit for a few minutes, and don't do anything. Live your life, love your family, and be inquisitive; sometimes just a refresh helps jog our creativity. Sorry if this thread is kind of old, but couldn't help myself teehee. Here's a game idea: an rpg maker game drama where animals are the sentient creatures and humans are the non-sentient creatures. How weird would that be? Except, instead of doing dog things like sniff our butts, we'd do human things. You can take that one, whomever, I've got plenty more in stock ;)