Benefits of Prototyping without Assets

Often when we think about a game that we want to make we think of it with awesome art that will make our game look exciting to play. Why would we start making our game without fancy art assets then. Here are a couple of reasons why it can be beneficial to prototype without assets.

You can jump right into finding what is fun with the game. Unless your game is specifically about the art then the main part of your game is going to be the mechanics within it that make your game fun to play. Because of that it is good to get right in and start figuring that out and once you have the mechanics figured out you can start making your assets match the fun game mechanics you have created.

You won’t have to rework your assets if the plans for your game change while you are prototyping. It can be a real pain when you have spent time creating assets for your game and at some point in development they no longer match the game you are making. Now you have to spend more time either reworking your assets or making completely new ones.

It doesn’t restrict your options. If you spend money to have nice assets made for your game you are going to feel like you have to keep them. This may keep you from making a game that is fun or game that matches the assets you have.

When you prototype with basic shapes it allows you to focus on finding the fun in your game. Which, in the end is what most of us are after.

Good Luck Adventurer!

-Chris