Brainstorming with Pre-Schoolers

The activities that occupy us as young children was the focus of a recent brainstorming session. I'm fascinated with the idea of a playground simulator complete with literal sandbox, a yard full of other children that could be used to spontaneously create games like tag, the visual blurring of imagination and reality, tree-climbing, fort building, etc. The game would be called Recess.

But what happens after recess ends? The kids go inside, but their imaginations are no less active. They turn to more artistic activities like Connect-the-Dots and Paint by Numbers. I wondered how these two specific activities could be translated into a video game.

These are incredibly basic activities that become boring after preschool age, so the challenge was in updating them for a more mature audience. I wasn't even sure if it was possible. For Connect-the-Dots, I imagined connecting stars to form constellations. I would later learn that Okami and Stars Over Half-Moon Bay both use this idea in compeletely different but effective ways. I'm not sure it's an interesting enough mechanic to base an entire game around. It's more suited for a mini-game, like the one in Okami. In fact, it would be perfect for the sim/RTS game about creating a civilization's mythology that has been bouncing around my head for the past few years.

Paint by Numbers, however, is a mechanic I haven't seen used anywhere yet. Like Connect-the-Dots, it probably couldn't stand on its own, and would be best used in a mini-game. My immediate association was with stained glass. Perhaps a crafting focused MMO, like A Tale in the desert, has a glassblower profession, and stained glass is one of the items they can create. Each window design could be given unique colours in this Paint by Section mini-game. The player commissioning the stained glass would be able to influence the atmosphere of the building not only through the window's design and imagery, but through the colour it casts on the floor as well. Imagine how different the mood created from a light blue and yellow stained glass window would be compared to one composed of dark reds. The kind of freedom of expression that a Paint by Numbers/Section mini-game allows is ideally suited for a virtual world.