You’re a game developer. How can you learn to think outside the box and solve problems?

As a game developer, thinking outside the box is crucial for creating innovative and engaging experiences. Here are some strategies to enhance your problem-solving skills: -Embrace Lateral Thinking -Challenge Assumptions -Seek Alternatives -Reframe Problems -Mind Mapping and Visualization -Collaborate and Share Ideas -Stay Persistent

Once you are working on a game, it is critical for you to continue to play your own game actively while acknowledging that you are biased and might not come up with the greatest out-of-the-box ideas. Also, oftentimes the outside of the box thinking may be excessive and get in the way of fun. Listen to your players and empower community as the most engaged players are the experts of your game. In general playing games and consuming all forms of entertainment can inspire and fuel your imagination. One of the more important aspects of playing games is that you build a sense of what works and what does not in a game, so you can define the boundaries for the project faster. This in turn will help innovation and creativity be more focused.

Also, playing different games helps you solve problems better and get used to new things, which is good for growing your skills. By mixing ideas from various games, you learn more about what makes a game fun and how to make your own projects better.

By playing more games, you will be exposed to some new mechanics and if you try to breakdown how those mechanics have implemented in the game will provide a new perspective.

To break out of conventional thinking and solve problems in game development, embracing a multidisciplinary approach is key. Experiment with a variety of game genres, engage in continuous learning beyond your specific field, and employ design thinking by focusing on end-users. Collaborating with individuals from diverse backgrounds can pave the way for innovative ideas, while embracing failure as an integral part of the creative process allows you to explore unique solutions fearlessly. This mix of experimentation, learning, and collaboration is essential for developing the ability to think differently and tackle challenges in game development.

Breaking a problem into a string of smaller goals and populating a roadmap with actions to tackle those goals is the essence of a Product Manager's (PM) role. For example, one of my favorite interview questions for PMs was "how would you double our daily active users?" Most PMs failed the question by coming up with lofty ideas from celebrity campaigns to movies and on-site events. The PMs who cleared the question, and got the job, broke down daily active users to new and returning users. And then started further breaking down sources for installs and triggers for retention closing their argument with a prioritized list of actions. That's breaking a big problem into many achievable steps that the team can get behind with.

Here the DT framework can help to breaking those problems into different chunks to make sure that each block of chunks are going along with each other. That's why having clear roadmap and objective can help as a staircases to go step by step and come back again to see does that make sense at all or not. That means it goes with some iteration process to finally solve problem.

It may seem like a big, unsolvable problem at first glance, but you should try and approach it from different perspectives, break the problem down to smaller pieces. Start from one piece and focus on that one only. Then you'll find it easier to adapt from one piece to another.

By breaking down the problem to the tiniest possible task generally transpose into "talking to rubber ducky" approach and it helps to get a different perspective to solve a seemingly bigger problems.

Breaking down complex problems into smaller parts is crucial for effective problem-solving. Whether in game design or any other field, this approach provides clarity and focus. By addressing core mechanics, level design, feedback, difficulty, and aesthetics separately, developers can iterate efficiently and find innovative solutions. It fosters adaptability and empowers us to tackle even the most daunting challenges step by step.

Some people may think that seeking for help or collaboration will harm them or make them look weak to others. I very strongly disagree with this. Because every person has gone through different experiences, gathered different skills along the way therefore there'll always be room for learning and improving yourself with others' valuable experiences. The problem you bumped into is almost certainly a problem that someone else has faced before. Do research, find out how other people have overcome those problems and then it's up to you to apply the same solution or come up with your own.

In programming there is no one/single/unique way to solve a problem. Always look for others codes that solve the same problem you worked on previously. At least with this way, you can start to improve your soft skills for feedback. While reviewing others, do not judge. Try to understand why they use that logic. If you are sure there is a way to improve, politely suggest your solution and provide some examples or pseudo snippets. You should too expect some examples and strong improvement ideas when you are the reviewed one. Remember, there will be some noise (non-informative reviews or pointless feedbacks) with your received reviews. Make sure you filter valuable reviews from noises.

Seeking feedback and collaboration in game development is akin to opening a door to a world of endless possibilities. It's not just about refining your game; it's about expanding your horizons. Feedback offers invaluable insights, helping identify blind spots and uncovering new perspectives. Collaborating with others brings diverse talents and experiences to the table, enriching the creative process. Embracing these avenues fosters growth, turning solitary endeavors into vibrant communities where innovation thrives.

What makes game development different is it's interactivity. Some idea might seem great on pen and paper but doesn't feel good while playing. Hence creating prototypes is a crucial part where you continuously test, iterate and improve upon an idea until it 'feels' good. Sometimes a great idea is just a byproduct of frequent iteration.

Look at the outcome of different iterations of code and physics. Sometimes a good idea comes out from series of experiments and trials

By experimenting, one first learn a way to solve one problem, and everytime you reiterate you already have a base to build on.

Experimentation and iteration form the heartbeat of game development, propelling creators towards innovation and excellence. Embracing this process means embracing uncertainty and embracing growth. Through trial and error, developers unearth hidden gems, learning not only from successes but also from setbacks. Each iteration is a step closer to perfection, a testament to resilience and dedication. So, let's embrace experimentation, let's iterate fearlessly, and let's sculpt our games into masterpieces of imagination and ingenuity.

One of my favorite ways is to engage in what I call ‘Boat Therapy’. I get out on the water. Bring my phone and Otter AI. Together we drive around the lake for an hour or two. Otter listens to me and creates a real time speech to text translation. It lets me dictate in Freeform expression. Teasing out ideas. Routes of action. Planning. Delegation. Time estimates. New ideas. Problem solving etc. Not being in front of a computer really activates creativity. You don’t need a boat either. The forest or beach down the street does just as good. Movement spurs ideas. Technology captures them in the moment. Afterwords Otter summarizes what I said. Organizes my thoughts..verbatim..in categories. It’s stress free, self care and work all at once

Life isn't just about your daily work routine. Always remember to spare time for yourself and your loved ones around you. Do what you enjoy in your free time, refresh your mind and you'll be in a better mindset the next day. It'll highly likely help you solve that problem that you were stuck with whole your previous day.

In the whirlwind of game development, finding moments of joy and relaxation is not just a luxury—it's a necessity. Stepping away from the screen to indulge in activities that bring happiness rejuvenates our spirit and rekindles our creative fire. It's in these moments of serenity that inspiration strikes, ideas flourish, and solutions emerge effortlessly. So, amidst the chaos, remember to prioritize self-care, for it is in nurturing ourselves that we nurture our craft.

One of my favorite ways to come up with ideas is with inverted thinking. Basically instead of a game where you build a house, what about a game about destroying the house? Instead of a game where you avoid the enemies, what if you controlled the enemies? This technique allows you to think outside the norm and can stimulate ideation beyond what your mental box is trapping your trains of thought in.

Be curious, learn something from other industries, there are tons of good stories and examples you can use. Don't give up. Everybody fails. Fail is the perfect way to learn and sometimes it gives you more than success can gives you.

Stop thinking of it as a box to be outside of, as if there is a defined boundary or qualification to be met for being creative. Anything like that in your thinking will reduce your creativity. Being more creative is mostly about increasing the quantity of ideas you generate. Not the quality. The best place to start: stop filtering out all those ideas you already have but doubt or worry about being judged for. Make sharing all the ideas you have a daily habit and watch what happens at the end of one month. If this scares you, just write every idea down somewhere every day. Filter nothing. No matter how absurd or off target. This will re-wire your brain toward generation instead of filtration. Then work on the sharing courage later.

Learn things outside of gaming! Become a real estate investor or a sex and relationship coach😳Hang out with friends outside your industry. Rocket scientists, doctors, inventors, machinists, teachers, various businesses owners. Read Harvard business school case studies. Consider future trends. Go to Happy Hours. Meet interesting people of all ages. Hanging out with similar people brings you similar perspectives. Break the mold and create your own.

You don't "learn to think outside of the box" - you think outside of the box. Instinct and intuition are the keys, and these are not things you can learn, they come naturally, and the more experience and confidence you have in the field, the easier it will come.