Another month, another Lost Garden prototyping challenge: this time, the theme is 'god games' like Populous on a "smaller, more casual scale."

For those of you who wonder why there aren't more original games, this can be a great learning experience. The first lesson is that original design isn't usually constrained by technology. I've intentionally kept the engine requirements rather low tech. Instead, the biggest challenge becomes the mental shift from 'implementing a spec' to 'finding the fun in a new game system.' These are two very different skills. If you merely implement an original design, you'll often end up with unplayable garbage. Instead you have to dig for the fun.

And just in case you think nothing ever comes of this stuff, Danc recently posted a whole slew of SpaceCute prototypes. Being someone who's closest interaction with design anything is the final product, it's fun watching the evolution, even for something as low key and painfully cute as the Lost Garden designs. Maggie Greene

CuteGod: A Prototyping Challenge [Lost Garden]