8/14/2023 0 Comments Color switch buildboxColor Switch is one of those simple yet addictive kind of games “And then I thought, ‘Well, what if the ball constantly changed colors?’ And then I thought about, ‘Well, what if I made that color switch mechanic the main mechanic?’ And then by getting very specific with all that, then that idea emerged where I had this circle rotating in my head and I saw the ball going through it as it was changing colors. I wrote down that they have a limited color palette, about four colors on average, dark background, and I put all those together and then also had the idea that I want to surprise players. In Pac-Man, you get the big pellet, the ghosts change color and you know you can eat them or in Super Mario, you get the flower, your outfit changes colors. One of them was the mechanic of color switching. I tore them apart using ‘Thinker Toys’ techniques and there were some common threads between them. “So I said, ‘You know what? I need to look at games that have already been around for 30, 40 plus years for inspiration.’ So I looked at Pac-Man, Uno, Simon, and Super Mario. “I specifically thought that I wanted to make a game that could be around for 30, 40-plus years,” he continued. Reichelt started formulating the idea after looking at the best aspects of classic games that stand the test of time. Ironically, Reichelt is color blind but that didn’t stop him from pursuing this idea once he got it in his head. Conceptual blending means blending a concept with an unrelated concept together to make a new concept and if you think about it, everything in the universe works like that… And so my school was basically between those two books and then just downloading and analyzing games.”Īt its most basic level, Color Switch involves guiding objects through other objects of the same color. “So my school for game design was basically downloading games everyday, playing them, analyzing them through the concepts that I would study in his book, and I would study them and then when I thought I understood them, then I would look at games through those concepts and then to generate game ideas, I would use another book called ‘Thinker Toys’ which is filled with creative thinking techniques to help you tear apart ideas, combine different ideas to create new ideas, and those techniques are all based on the idea of conceptual blending which is the core of all creativity. It’s not really about programming even though programming is part of game design. I could learn a highly technical skill with programming or I could learn what I considered the more artistic side of things which is the game design principles. “I had about $8,000 of film equipment because I was in filmmaking, still am, sold it all, had $4,000 and I financed my first app that way. I just did that silly exercise where I said it out loud three times and I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to do this.’ ![]() Start sketching ideas, this and that.’ So I remember doing that. He had a big influence and how I thought about it because he said, ‘The only thing that’s required of you to be a game designer is to say it out loud, that you’re a game designer and then start making games. “I got a signed copy of his book which was awesome,” Reichelt told GameDaily. I tore them apart using ‘Thinker Toys’ techniques I specifically thought that I wanted to make a game that could be around for 30, 40-plus years… So I looked at Pac-Man, Uno, Simon, and Super Mario. There was no turning back after he read it. His first step? Studying Carnegie Mellon professor Jesse Schell’s book on “The Art of Game Design” from front to back. Reichelt eventually was able to put himself in a more entrepreneurial mindset, and despite knowing nothing about programming, he learned fundamental game design principles that translated to success. It changed his lifeĬolor Switch didn’t happen out of the blue. Much like Rovio failed with 51 mobile games before it finally landed a mega-hit with Angry Birds, Reichelt actually dabbled with 40 different games that he saw no success with. Reichelt’s story is familiar in some ways and very unique at the same time. Earlier this year, Color Switch creator David Reichelt regained the rights from publisher Fortafy Games and released a re-envisioned version of the title, and he believes that’s only the beginning for the brand. It became the No.1 mobile game in over 150 countries and was the fastest game in Apple’s App Store history to reach 50 million downloads. ![]() Color Switch has been a mobile phenomenon since its December 2015 launch, with well over 200 million downloads.
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