Game design is based on the belief that we have the knowledge to give the player what they want. Designing a game is an act of faith.

Game concepts, whether in our brain or in a 40-page schematic, are our sacred cows.

We have to learn to kill them.

This ruthless action, not budget constraints or team size, may be the primary barrier between indie game development and "professional" game development.

There is a difference between aborting an idea, which I think is a positive action, and giving up on an idea, which is more passive. Aborting an idea means that, for whatever reason, it won't work. The amount of time needed to work on the project isn't available. The skills or tools necessary to make the game happen aren't there. The idea is too close to an existing title.

Giving up on an idea, in my definition, means that the harsh reality of the game idea has set in. Like most designers, including myself, have experienced, the person becomes in love with the idea or the concept itself, not the final product. However, a talking seahorse trying to find his way home (Don't laugh, this was my concept) just doesn't look as appealing onscreen in 8-bit color. The idea is marvelous, but is it a game?

The common thread between the major game designers I have interviewed, from Shigeru Miyamoto to Eugene Jarvis, has been that each has had the courage to acknowledge early in the game development process when a game wouldn't work.

As a result (probably not by coincidence) they have been making games longer than I've been alive. Like a bad love affair, cutting the strings early can save you months, if not years, of frustration and burnout.

However, we all have an ego. As one writer noted, you would have to be arrogant to think that you, by yourself, could create a whole universe that was fun, addictive and marketable. We want our idea to work. We don't want to be wrong.

And, as a result, we continue our quest for the Holy Grail that doesn't exist. We stop sleeping and showering (I already addressed that in the last column). We become obsessed with the concept. We push harder and harder until we break.

In reality, we are afraid to stop because we will see the idea for what it really may be: a lofty pipe dream. If the idea is that good, it will still be there when we stop and turn the lights on.

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Written by Damon Brown.