At Gamescom 2022 we managed to sit down and chat with the creators of IDEA. It’s a game about discovery and sharing that stands in stark contrast to most of the other games we saw at Gamescom. In addition to seeing some images of the match, we spoke with Arturo Monedero and Alexandra Samper-Martínez about their ideas for IDEAS. Let’s see what the game has to offer before it launches later this year.
IDEA is developed by the same team that created The Longest Road on Earth. It’s a thoughtful game with minimal input that explores human connections and the beauty found in everyday life. IDEA is a very different game, but you can expect the same level of introspective gameplay.
The IDEA concept is simple; You’ll bounce a lightbulb through drone views of real-world locations, navigating to different scenes and environments. While you can successfully reach your destination, getting stuck forms the backbone of the game. Once this happens, the game will ask you to submit an idea. This can be anything from inspirational quotes to short poems. You’ll discover other people’s ideas hidden on the map as you play, creating a kind of anonymous social network.
All of these beautiful drone footage was created in collaboration with filmmaker Olli Huttunen, who previously made an award-winning short film of the same name with much of the same concept. Once the developers saw it, they saw the potential of the concept as a game and worked together with Huttunen to make it a reality.
As you can see in the trailer, the locations you will be playing in contain invisible walls that correspond to fences, walls, buildings, etc. from the real world. It seems like a pretty intuitive process – you shouldn’t get confused about what is and isn’t a wall. However, as said above, getting stuck is not to be regretted.
Ideas can take many forms, but you’ll never know who writes them. However, you can still build an anonymous community by clicking “Like” on ideas. After you’ve “Liked” a couple of ideas from a player, the game will show you more ideas from that player. The reverse is also true, so you may see fewer ideas through the same mechanic. Ideas are also regulated automatically: you will not see any offensive or disturbing messages.
While your goal is to reach your destination, this goal is more of a suggestion than anything else. Getting lost and stuck is how you will discover new ideas, just like in real life. In the interview, game designer Arturo Monedero explained how he and his team could have put a lot more mechanics into the game, but this would have detracted from the experience. The simplicity of the game is also its strength; By implementing more gameplay mechanics, too many features would dilute the exploration and discovery experience.
Source: TLR Games
IDEA should be available later this year, but if you’re desperate to give it a try, a desktop demo is available via Steam. We also don’t know what the price will be, but it would be reasonable to expect a similar price to The Longest Road on Earth. The Longest Road on Earth is also a great way to see the thoughts and goals of the developers. While you will be able to play IDEA on any Android device, we recommend choosing one of the best Android tablets for an immersive experience.
