People love to criticize video games – take a look at the user reviews on Metacritic – but players might not be so quick to hand out zeroes if they’d gone through the process of making their own RPG or shooter themselves, the sleepless nights over broken code and whether or not to take the plunge on isometric graphics instead of flat 2D.

iGaming
As a critic, putting your money where your mouth is can seem impossible but, with tools like Unity available for free, time and effort are the major variables involved in development. But where does the inspiration to actually build something unique come from? In some cases, such as in the iGaming niche, expanding on an existing idea – like roulette, poker, and blackjack – is all that’s required to get people excited.

For example, roulette from bgo combines the classic experience with mobile support and live dealers, while providing players with access to popular variants like French, American, and European roulette. However, arguably the biggest role inspiration plays in iGaming is in the creation of new slot machine games. With more than 50 different variants in bgo’s catalogue, including games based on TV shows like South Park or pop icons such as Jimi Hendrix, keeping the experience fresh for brand-new players is a difficult task.

The same situation is in evidence elsewhere in the casino industry. For example, Magical Vegas is running with a range of exclusive slots, including Wired Birds, a game clearly inspired by mobile games. Starburst, arguably the world’s most popular online slot, featuring at TonyBet among others, also has roots in the mobile environment, resembling match-3 apps like Bejeweled and Candy Crush.

The Elder Scrolls

The golden rule in any kind of creative task is that nothing comes from a vacuum. Starving the mind of books, movies, daydreaming, drawing, etc. is a great way to ensure that the RPG you’ve had in the back of your head since the first time you fired-up Final Fantasy VII in 1997 never comes to fruition. Even totally irrelevant things have their uses – the fictional ore Tiberium, in EA’s Command and Conquer, was inspired by the 1957 movie Monolith Monsters.

Many successful creators try to fulfill a “wishlist” from their childhood games in their own projects. For instance, it’s a fair bet that The Elder Scrolls only exists in its current form today because Ultima VII is the favorite game of Bethesda’s Todd Howard, the project leader on Morrowind and the company’s current game director. It’s also easy to see the parallels behind his second favorite, the original DOOM, and Fallout 3, a title Howard led development on.

Wolfenstein 3D

It might be an unpopular point, but if you have a good idea, don’t wait for innovation – with the exception of trailblazers like Wolfenstein 3D (first-person shooter), Herzog Zwei (RTS), and Sweet Home (survival horror), everything on the market today is a copy of something else. However, that doesn’t mean they’re any less valuable. Considering that the appetite for HD remakes is huge, gamers aren’t all that discerning when it comes to new experiences.

If you absolutely have to do something wild though, try combining genres and mechanics; has there ever been a racing RPG? Is there space for a platformer with match-3 gameplay? So how about a survival horror game charting the flight of chickens from the slaughterhouse? They’re all silly ideas admittedly, but the games industry hasn’t survived this long because people keep to a secret ruleset. After all, there is a game out there about an insane goat with a prehensile tongue.

Finally, if all the above fails, venture outside. Our creative ability improves for up to two sweaty hours after exercise, simply because our brain appreciates the change of scenery.

And while on the topic of gaming and thrills, if you want to experience both, then pay ice casino a visit 😉

Jeremy Mawson
Avid gaming fanatic who loves to write about retro consoles

More by Jonas Ek:

• The chill survival adventure, ‘Until North Ends’, is out now via Steam EA
• The uplifting adventure ‘MR. RECORDS’, is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2
• The roguelite tactical RPG, ‘Dunebound Tactics’, is coming to Steam on September 14th
• The physics-based co-op game, ‘What Goes Up’, is coming to PC and consoles in 2026
• The psychological survival horror game ‘Holstin’, is coming to PC and consoles in 2027

Tags: Bedroom developer, Game developers, Gamer, Gamers, Gaming, Video games