First look at IDEA: A thoughtful, meditative game about sharing ideas
At Gamescom 2022, we managed to sit down for a talk with the creators of IDEA. It’s a game about discovery and sharing that stands in stark contrast tomost of the other games we saw at Gamescom. Apart from getting to see some footage of the game, we talked with Arturo Monedero and Alexandra Samper-Martínez about theirideasfor IDEA. Let’s see what the game offers before it launches later this year.
IDEA is developed by the same team that createdThe Longest Road on Earth. It’s a thoughtful game with minimal input that explores human connections and the beauty found within everyday life. IDEA is a very different game, but you can expect the same level of introspective gameplay.
The concept for IDEA is straightforward; you’ll bounce a lightbulb through drone views of real-world locations, navigating to different scenes and environments. While you may reach your destination successfully, getting stuck forms the game’s backbone. Once this happens, the game will prompt you to submit an idea. This can be anything from inspirational quotes to short poems. You’ll discover other people’s ideas tucked away on the map as you play, creating an anonymous social network of sorts.
All this beautiful drone footage was created in collaboration with filmmaker Olli Huttunen, who previously made anaward-winning short film under the same namewith much of the same concept. Once the developers saw it, they noticed the potential of the concept as a game, and worked together with Huttunen to make it a reality.
As you may see in the trailer, the locations you’ll play on contain invisible walls that correspond to real-world fences, walls, buildings, etc. It looks like a fairly intuitive process — you shouldn’t get confused over what is and isn’t a wall. However, as previously stated, getting stuck is not to be mourned.
Ideas can take many forms, but you’ll never know who writes them. However, you can still build an anonymous community by “Liking” ideas. After you’ve “Liked” a couple of ideas from a player, the game will show you more ideas from that player. The vice versa is also true, so you can see fewer ideas through the same mechanic. Ideas are also automatically regulated — you won’t see any offensive or disturbing messages.
While you aim to reach your destination, this goal is more of a suggestion than anything else. Getting lost and stuck is how you’ll discover new ideas — just like real life. In the interview, game designer Arturo Monedero explained how he and his team could have put many more mechanics in the game, but this would have detracted from the experience. The game’s simplicity is also its strength; by implementing more game mechanics, too many features would dilute the experience of exploration and discovery.
IDEA should be out later this year, but if you’re desperate to give it a go, there’s adesktop demo available through Steam. We also don’t know what the pricing will look like, but it would be reasonable to expect similar pricing to The Longest Road on Earth. The Longest Road on Earth is also an excellent way to see the developers' thoughts and goals. While you’ll be able to play IDEA on any Android device, we recommend picking up one of thebest Android tabletsfor an immersive experience.
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