Mike Bithell draws on childhood memories to make accessible game mechanics

- Indie game developer Mike Bithell.

Designing novel game mechanics is tricky business for most game devs, so it's good to be reminded that inspiration can be found in places you might not expect -- a childhood memory, for example.

Notably, British game developer Mike Bithell (Volume, Thomas Was Alone) has a new game out for Google's mobile VR platform Daydream, a"point-and-bounce" game called EarthShape that he says was inspired by a childhood spent trying to "catch" raindrops sliding down a windowpane by drawing lines in the condensation.

"That little activity would keep kid-Mike occupied for hours," he told Engadget recently. "When I was trying to think of accessible family game mechanics, I remembered that and imagined how much more fun my little game would be if the raindrops reacted to the lines."

Out of that idea came a sort of real-time puzzle game that challenges players to steer a bouncing ball around a grid-based arena by drawing lines with Daydream's Bluetooth motion controller. It's an intriguing example of how game designers can look to their own lives for inspiration when developing something new, and you can read more about the game's development process over on Engadget.