Happy Player and The Philosophy of Dense Fun
Veteran Game Designer Tom Hall has spent 35 years making games, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, and DOOM. In this talk, he shares tips about how to "get creative", provides two tools to spur game ideas, and discusses how scoping down and working bottom-up leads to better works.
The talk will pull in examples of both techniques from creative leaders from Rick Rubin, Neil Gaiman, Sting, Stephen King, the founders of id software, classic artists, and more, and show how The Philosophy of Dense Fun both informed his previous titles and in hindsight made it clear when excess and stress led to a less-focused vision.