Creativity hacks for when you're in trouble

Today I want to talk about something that isn’t overlooked but that surely isn’t always well understood: creativity. When I started my course in game design, I came from University, where I graduated in Physics. I always thought of myself as a creative person, but coming from a world of science and logic I was afraid that I would be less creative than people coming from artistic backgrounds. I had already studied the topic and the most important thing that I discovered (in the book A Whack on the Side of the Head) is that creativity is something that we can exercise and that there are techniques that can enhance it. The big premise for this article is therefore the possibility we have to employ some techniques to enhance our creativity.

Reverse your point of view

When you need to find something original real quick or you face a problem that seems impossible, try to think the exact opposite of what you are thinking about at that moment. The idea is that once our brain starts to think in a certain way it will always go down that route out of habit. Make the most radical change you can in your reasoning and you will discover many ways of attacking the problem. For example, you may ask yourself: “If I wanted to exacerbate this problem instead of solving it what would I do?”, “If I wanted to build a game where this problem is instead the main feature?”, “All games do this, what if I do that?” and so on. My favourite board game, Spirit Island, was born out of reversing something common: all board games treat colonialism from the coloniser point of view. What if I do the opposite?

That is to say that this technique isn’t limited to problem solving but it can be used to discover original ideas.

Reformulate your problem

Often we are stuck because we think of a problem in the wrong terms. Try to take a step back and look at all the parts that contribute to that problem. Can you explain that problem using all the other things as the main cause? For example, let’s say you have a magic spell in your game that is too powerful but that is very fun to use. If you say “this spell is too powerful” or “enemies die too quickly when you use this spell” or even “this spell is found too soon in the adventure” your solutions may be directed towards different aspects of the game. It’s important of course that you first express the problem clearly, something we tend to overlook when we are in a hurry. So this technique forces you to do it.

Use randomness

This is something that I read often which I found extremely helpful (even David Bowie used this technique along with Brian Eno). Sometimes, to snap your brain out of a mental block, you can use randomness to think out of the box. Open the dictionary at random, take an object in your home, open your phone and look at the first picture. Your brain will unlock unexplored pathways that can lead to an inventive solution. So, next time  you are in trouble, try thinking “how could peanut butter solve this problem?”, “let me make a game about sunglasses”, “let’s try to write this dialogue without using a letter”.  This will also be an incredible training for when you have to actually fit things completely unrelated, for example when mixing two genres, or when trying to implant a feature from another game.

Take a walk

Our brain works all the time, and with conscious thought, we can sometimes limit that work to our narrow point of view of that moment. It’s important for the creative mind to relax, have a pause, even sleep. You are not giving up, you are simply giving your brain more freedom to act. Do you want an example? The idea for this paragraph came to me while I was taking a pause from writing this article.

End

That’s all for today. I strongly suggest checking out A Whack on the Side of the Head because it has a lot of interesting suggestions from someone with a great deal of experience. See you next week for another article!