Good morning all. I was sitting here browsing BGG for a few minutes and all of a sudden I had an idea. This is how game design starts, and I thought I would record the moment in blog-form. I don’t know what triggered the memory, but we watched Die Hard on Sunday night (it isn’t the Christmas season without a viewing of Die Hard!). Anyway, a word popped into my head this morning from a scene in the movie. The cops are finally on-scene and decided to go into the building. McClain tries to get them to turn back, but the captain or squad lead says “Begin your reconnoiter.” At that point they begin their advance on the building. And that’s the word that sparked in my mind just a few minutes ago.
Reconnoiter. An odd word to be sure. It means “to inspect, observe, or survey (the enemy, the enemy’s strength or position, a region, etc.) in order to gain information for military purposes” or “to examine or survey (a region, area, etc.) for engineering, geological, or other purposes” (according to Dictionary.com).
I wonder what game I’ll make around this word? Have you ever started a game design based on a single word? What is the least amount of input you’ve attained inspiration from?
Cast Iron Game Lab 