The Bridal Rhyme Creative Process

Originally posted on Medium about the Creative Process in general, not just about videogames.

You know how it goes:

Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed
Something Blue

The good ol’ bridal rhyme. We’ve heard it more than enough times in pop culture (and I assume actual weddings if you’re from the states?) and it can be used as a helpful crutch in your creative process once you pick up on it.

It was either here or in How I Met Your Mother. Which is kind of the same thing, actually…

This has been a go-to-tactic of mine for quite sometime when it comes to quick brainstorming in game design. I share it frequently when I explain to my students how to come up with ideas -in a over simplified way- especially when time is of the essence.

A good example of this is when working on a Game Jam. You have 48 hours to make a game based on a premise, so think fast and execute even faster.

It turns out this is actually a very good way to obscure-proof whatever high concept you are considering creatively. You want to come up with something original, but not too different that ends up alienating your potential audience. That is unless you’re actively trying to achieve that obscurity.

So let’s go verse by verse and I’ll explain how the rhyme can help you out. The first ones can be quite self explanatory, but then it gets more interesting. My examples will be mostly based on video games, but I should notice that it has helped me out in other creative pinches too. From animation pitching, to workshop making, to defining MVPs or value propositions.

Something Old

Take something that is already out there, something you already know and love. This is your Something Old. A proven concept, mechanic, genre, archetype, etc. where you can start off.

Love Super Mario Bros? There’s your starting point. In fact, it was the starting point of a lot of games during the late 80s and early 90s. That’s why Platformers became an established genre. Take the design rules and conventions that users already expect.

This is one of your creative pillars — use your audience’s mental models in your favor. By starting with parts of a language they already know, you give them a more familiar and appealing white rabbit to follow into your rabbit hole.

Something New

Your differential is here. But what if Mario could run really fast? You got Sonic! But what if instead of a cartoony setting and stomping on enemies it’s like a war with guns? You got Contra. You get my point. Heck, even Super Mario Bros had its own Something New when it first came out.

Castlevania: Mario, the whipping vampire slayer.

This is the part where you add your original creative input. Here’s where you introduce new things, aesthetics, systems, business models, technology, fabrics, target audiences, etc. There’s also the option of creating an experience with a level of detail, polish or love for the craft that that itself is what’s new. Blizzard Entertainment has made a business out of exactly this: extreme high quality video games of already explored (and sometimes saturated) genres.

Sounds a lot like your Unique Selling Proposition, right? Or what VCs and the sort love asking: What makes you product/service different?

This is your second creative pillar. Show them something they haven’t seen yet. Subvert their expectations. This is the reason people will talk about your creation.

Something Borrowed

Time to use mental models and conventions again. This time, not as one of your creative pillars, but as a tool to remove noise in your message and streamline the experience. What I mean is — When working on parts that are not core to your experience, use Something Borrowed instead of adding something new.

The most straightforward example I always give in this part is Level Selection on a mobile game. If the core of your experience is not focused in the way players can chose the level they want to play, then don’t overthink it. Borrow from what is working right now, what has become a design convention, on other games. If I ask you to think of how you can select a level on a mobile game, chances are you thought of either of these two:

Who knows where these screenshots come from!? Such obscure references, man!

Since it’s clear that they work, why complicate it with your own type of level selection?

Is it worth the risk/budget/time to add another layer of new to your creation? To add another level of abstraction your audience will have to go through to experience your content?

On a higher level: If people already expect Green to mean Go and Red to mean Stop — why fight against that? Messing with this will only add noise to your message. Don’t add noise to your experience, this will let Something New shine even more.

When it comes to media in general, you can think of most of these conventions as tropes. Use them wisely.

Let’s recap with a quick movie example
Something Old — Hero’s Journey
Something New — From a Villain’s POV
Something Borrowed — Superhero Tropes
You get something like MEGAMIND

Hey, he also fits with the color for the next part!

Something Blue

Here’s where the analogy appears to have some problems. But worry not — the planets have aligned and helped us convey another creative tip with our trusty rhyme.

What color are the most popular social networks?

You don’t look amused, Grouchy Smurf.

Yeah, yeah I know Snapchat, Instagram or others don’t fit with this. Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr work like a charm though.

Still it gets the message through: Talk about what you’re working on. Show your work, share your progress, manage your (potential and current) community!

The hardest thing right now is getting your project noticed. Even if you have the best posible idea, unicorn(is that what the kids are calling it these days?)or pterodactyl; if people haven’t heard it exists — then it doesn’t exist.

You will always exist in my heart, Billy the Pterodactyl

The more you talk about your project, the easier it gets to make a splash when you launch. Video games are saturated in most of its outlets, as it happens with a lot of start-ups in the markets they are aiming for. Your social network audience isn’t limited to your consumers; potential investors, allies, press and talent can all be listening to you.

Numerous times people have said that nobody wants to steal your idea! So stop hiding it and start talking about it. You think it’s not ready? Show it anyway! If you’re audience enjoys being involved in the creative process then it a huge win for both parties. Unless you have an NDA or a an actual strategic reason to stay silent — Don’t stay silent.

Of course, don’t just talk — the most important thing is actually doing it. So get to work with a megaphone stuck to your mouth or something. Heck, some developers are live-streaming as they code their projects. Don’t let your pterodactyl go extinct before its first flight, dammit!
Post that tweet if you believe.

Bonus Verse: And a Silver Sixpence on Her Left Shoe

Unless you followed the link to the original bridal rhyme, this verse is totally new to you. It was meant as a way of wishing prosperity to the newlyweds.

Taking that into account, all I have to say about it is: Remember that unless you’re doing this for fun — you have to think on how will you monetise your project.

My uncle explained the way he feels about work in this very effective sentence:

Doing creative work is a very gratifying thing for your emotional needs. If you enjoy it as a hobby, knock yourself out. Otherwise, you must also think on how to make it gratifying to your material needs.

Now you know. For your next project go through each of the verses:

Something Old — What’s your starting point? What are you basing your idea on? What common ground are you establishing with your audience?

Something New — What’s your differential? Your unique selling proposition? What expectations are you trying to subvert? What improvements to older methods do you bring to the table? How do you innovate?

Something Borrowed — What isn’t part of your core experience that has already been solved by another product/service already in the market? What can I use from them? How can I streamline my message? What mental models and conventions can I already use to remove noise from my project?

Something Blue — Do people know what I’m working on? How am I telling people about my project? Am I using social media effectively to have a more effective launch?

And a Silver Sixpence on Her Left Shoe — How will I monetise this!?

What do you think? Does it fit with your projects? Does it help to make faster brainstorm sessions? Let me know what you think.