Game Brainstorm - My first few game ideas

 While I've played literally hundreds of games over the years since I first started gaming, this was my first time coming up with game ideas by myself. It wasn't the easiest of tasks to begin with but I'm happy enough with what I thought of.

My first idea would be to make a 3D math based platformer. Each level would consist of gaps and platforms to jump across. The playable character would have a number displayed above them that would update as you cross from platform to platform. The platform that the player jumps to would also have numbers on them as well as a mathematic symbol such as plus, minus, multiply or divide. The player would also see the target number at the top left of their screen. There would also be a timer running for approx 5 seconds to add a sense of urgency to the game and if the timer runs out the player would lose the level.

Basically what I would be trying to create would be a game where the player solves math problems on the fly in order to advance to the next block. I was inspired to make a game like this by playing 2048 when I was younger and also seeing mobile game ads advertising similar math based games. The concept I have chosen is also similar to an online game called 3D Math Heroes which can be played online.

A screenshot from the game 2048 developed by Gabriele Cirulli. Available at ResearchGate.

Screenshot from 3D Math Heroes. Available at Codecanyon.

I think this tutorial from gamedevacademy could be helpful in creating a game like this. The tutorial itself describes making a 2D game but I think I could adapt some of the C# script to my own idea.

My second idea was to create a game where you would play as a gardener in a 3D world and had to collect the necessary items to plant new trees, flowers, fruits and vegetables. These items could consist of various types of seeds, water and soil and the location to bring them to could change as you progressed through the game. To make things more challenging I could introduce enemies to the game that could be insects or other forms of animals that the player would have to avoid. Weather elements could also be introduced to make the game more interesting and visually appealing.

"Delicate Growing Plants Being Watered" available at Pexels.

My inspiration for this game idea mainly comes from the brief time I've spent playing Minecraft. In Minecraft you have a 3D open world to explore and you can craft a variety of items as you play. My game would be similar to this but more limited in its scale and scope.

I think the Unity tutorials I will be taking over the next few weeks should help me create a game like this. I also found some tutorials on YouTube explaining how to create an open world 3D game which could also be helpful. 

The third game I have come up with would be called MazeRunner. I am still deciding whether this should be an endless runner style game like Temple Run or if the player should have more control over their character and be free to explore as they wish, i.e. have full control over the in game camera. I am not sure as to what the enemies would be in the game but I imagine they would be some form of monster that the player could attack to progress through the maze. There would also be a timer counting down to complete each level.

The following tutorial on YouTube should help a lot if I decide to make an endless runner style game as it outlines how to do this in Unity3D.

My final game idea would be a golf style game where the player is in control of a ball and can set the power, angle and direction of their shot. I could design various courses with different shapes and structures in Unity3D and as long as the player got the ball into the target at the end they could progress to the next level. 

This tutorial could be very useful in developing a golfing type of game.