This means starting to get down to the whole action of designing, which means following a design process. With no specific deadline, I've decided to go for an organic process of development following the spiral model.
I started with a massive brainstorming process, drawing up lists of potential items which could be included in the game. One of this things which stuck out was Weebles, which I'd previously identified as a possible candidate for the MacGuffin driving the narrative.
For those not familiar with these loveable, egg-shaped toys, their unique selling point (USP) is outlined in the advertising slogan "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down." The eggs are weighted so that they always right themselves.
This introduces an interesting movement, as they don't roll properly. I like this idea, and feel it is a good foundation for a game, and very much in keeping with my original intention to apply nostalgia not just to the aesthetic but to the mechanic as well.
As you can see from my early notes (below), the main focus of my initial development phase is trying to find a way to (a) genericise the brand (because Weebles is still trademarked, though thankfully their USP does not appear to be patented), and (b) work out how to use that in a game.
I found myself stuck on point (a) -- more work to do there -- but on point (b) I found there were a number of interesting contraption-based games which offer a model to consider. Most interesting is that they are all 2D side-on games, making extensive use of physics & gravity. This made me reconsider the viewpoint used in the game, which was originally going to be isometric 3D.
These ideas will be more fully explored in the next couple of posts, which will include the more detailed thoughts for interaction between objects, and examine the competition in the contraption-based puzzle game market.