Game Ideator

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Getting Started with Game Ideator

The Game Ideator is a tool for generating game ideas from your inputs. Here's how to get started:

1. Open the Game Ideator from your Ludo.ai dashboard.
2. In the main input box at the top of the page, optionally type any combination of keywords, themes, phrases, existing game titles, your own previously generated ideas, or your own Game Concepts (GDDs). You can also leave the input empty.
3. Click the filters button to (optionally) refine your generation:
   • Select one or more Genres.
   • Pick a target Platform (Mobile or Desktop).
   • Choose an Art Style for the concept art (or leave it as "Any style").
   • Choose a Perspective (or leave it as "Any perspective").
4. Click Start New Generation to generate ideas.
5. Each idea appears as a card with a title, description, and AI-generated concept art. Click a card to open its detail panel.
6. In the detail panel you can:
   • Click Create Project to turn the idea into a full Game Concept (GDD).
   • Click Ask Ludo to chat with the AI assistant about the idea.
   • Use Copy Text, Share Idea, or Generate Variations for additional actions.
7. To generate more ideas with the same inputs, click the + button on the results grid.

All filters are optional — the Game Ideator will happily generate ideas from a blank input. Experiment freely with different combinations to explore a wide range of possibilities.

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Input Options and Best Practices

The main input box of the Game Ideator accepts several different kinds of items, and you can mix them freely in the same generation:

1. Keywords and themes — e.g. "cyberpunk", "pirates", "medieval fantasy".
2. Game mechanics — e.g. "endless runner", "merge robots", "tower defense".
3. Game sub-genres — e.g. "4X strategy", "roguelike", "battle royale".
4. Existing games — start typing a game title and pick it from the dropdown to use it as a reference.
5. Your previously generated ideas — pull in an idea you've generated before to iterate on or blend with new inputs.
6. Your Game Concepts (GDDs) — reference a GDD you've already created in Ludo.ai.

You can also leave the input completely empty — the Game Ideator will generate ideas based on the selected filters (or fully open-ended if no filters are set).

Tips for getting good results:

• Start simple. Begin with 2-3 inputs to keep the direction focused.
• Be clear and concise. Use straightforward language and avoid acronyms or abbreviations.
• Mix and match. Combine different input types — e.g. a reference game plus a theme plus a mechanic — for more interesting results.
• Avoid overloading. Too many inputs dilute the result; stick to a manageable number.
• Refine iteratively. If results feel too close to your inputs, remove or swap an input and regenerate.
• Balance specific and general. Pair a concrete mechanic with a broader theme to get ideas that are both grounded and varied.
• Think cross-genre. Combining elements from different genres often produces the most original concepts.

The quality of your input strongly influences the quality of the generated ideas. Don't be afraid to iterate.

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Understanding and Using Generated Ideas

Each generated idea appears as a card in the results grid. Clicking a card opens a detail panel with the full information. Here's what you'll see and how to use it:

1. Title and Description
   • The core of the generated idea: a short title and a longer description (often split into a hook/summary and a more detailed gameplay description).
   • Use this as the starting point for your game concept.
2. Concept Art
   • An AI-generated image representing the idea, rendered in the Art Style you selected.
   • Don't like the image? Click the re-generate icon on the concept art to produce a new one, or change the Art Style filter and generate fresh ideas.
   • Use the image as visual inspiration or as a starting point in the Image Generator.
3. Generation Parameters
   • Below the title you'll see the parameters used for this idea — selected genres, platform, art style, and any hints the AI inferred from your inputs.
   • Useful for understanding why the AI produced this particular idea, and for tuning your next generation.

In the detail panel, the available actions are:

• Create Project — turn the idea into a full Game Concept (GDD). See the Saving and Developing Ideas section for details.
• Ask Ludo — open a chat with the AI assistant about this specific idea (e.g. brainstorm mechanics, ask for variations, discuss the concept).
• Copy Text — copy the idea's description to your clipboard.
• Generate Variations — re-run the Ideator using this idea as a seed input, producing related concepts.
• Share Idea — share the idea with your team or externally.

Tips for getting the most out of generated ideas:

• Generate in batches and compare — even ideas you don't love often contain a mechanic or angle worth borrowing.
• Combine elements from multiple generated ideas to create something distinctively yours.
• Use Generate Variations when you find an idea that's close but not quite right.
• Use Ask Ludo to interrogate an idea — what's the core loop? what's the hook? what would make it stand out? — before committing to a full project.

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Customization and Filters

The Game Ideator offers a small but powerful set of filters to tailor your generations. All filters are optional, and all are found inside the filters panel (click the filters button next to the input).

1. Platform
   • Options: Mobile or Desktop.
   • Impact: shapes the type of game generated (e.g. session length, controls, monetization assumptions).
2. Genres
   • Pick one or more from the available genre chips (e.g. Hyper Casual, Casual, Core, and more).
   • Impact: focuses the generated ideas within your chosen genre(s), influencing mechanics, themes, and overall direction.
   • Leave empty for fully open-ended genre selection.
3. Art Style
   • A wide range of styles (Cartoonish, Pixel Art, Low Poly, Anime/Manga, Photorealistic 3D, and many more), or Any style to let the AI choose per idea.
   • Impact: controls the visual style of the concept art generated for each idea.
   • Note: the Art Style applies to all images in a batch. To change it, update the filter and generate new ideas (or re-generate the concept art on an individual card).
4. Perspective
   • Options include First-Person, Third-Person, Top-Down, Isometric, Side-Scroll, and others, or Any perspective.
   • Impact: influences the gameplay viewpoint, which often shapes the type of mechanics generated.

Tips for using filters effectively:

• Combine Platform + Genres + Perspective to target a specific niche (e.g. mobile hyper-casual top-down).
• Try generating the same input with and without filters to see how much they constrain the output.
• If the results feel repetitive, loosen a filter (switch a specific style to "Any style", or remove a genre) to broaden the search.

Filters help focus your results, but don't let them over-constrain creativity. Some of the most innovative ideas come from breaking convention — an unexpected art style for a genre, or an unusual perspective for a familiar mechanic.

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Saving and Developing Ideas

Once you've generated ideas you like, the Game Ideator gives you several ways to grow them into full game concepts.

1. Creating a Project (Game Concept / GDD) from an Idea
   • Click Create Project on the card or in the detail panel. The "New Game Concept" modal opens.
   • Choose between two tabs:
     • Choose Template — start from a pre-built template that fills in a structured set of sections for you (e.g. summary, mechanics, art, moodboard).
     • Custom Sections — hand-pick which sections to include and how many entries of each.
   • Toggle AI assist on (the default) to have the AI auto-generate content for the chosen sections based on the idea. Turn it off to start with empty sections.
   • Click submit to create the project. You'll be taken to the new Game Concept, where you can keep editing.
2. Working in the Game Concept Tool
   • The Game Concept editor gives you a structured environment to develop the idea — sections for gameplay, characters, settings, art, mechanics, and more.
   • Use the in-editor AI to expand or rewrite individual sections, generate new content, or explore alternatives.
3. Iterating with the Ideator
   • Use Generate Variations in the detail panel to spin off related concepts from an idea you like — this re-opens the Ideator with the idea pre-loaded as an input.
   • Pull a previously generated idea or an existing GDD back into the Ideator's input box to blend it with new keywords or references.
   • Use Ask Ludo in the detail panel to talk through the idea with the AI before committing to a full Project.

The path from initial idea to fully developed game concept is iterative. Use these tools to capture promising sparks, then keep iterating — your final game concept will often look quite different from the first card you saved.

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Advanced Features and Pro Tips

Here are some advanced techniques to push the Game Ideator further:

1. Iterative ideation
   • Generate a batch, pick the most interesting idea, and feed it back into the input (or use Generate Variations on its detail panel) to spin off related concepts.
   • Run several passes, each time tightening or loosening the inputs based on what the previous batch produced.
2. Blending references
   • Combine two or three reference games in the input — e.g. "Vampire Survivors" + "Stardew Valley" — to provoke unexpected mash-ups.
   • Mix a reference game with a theme keyword to transplant a familiar mechanic into a new setting.
3. Mechanic-focused generation
   • Input specific game mechanics (e.g. "deck-building", "physics puzzle", "one-button controls") to generate ideas that innovate on a known mechanic instead of a known genre.
   • Combine two mechanics in a single input to look for novel multi-mechanic hooks.
4. Genre blending
   • Intentionally combine disparate genres in your inputs (e.g. "tower defense" + "dating sim") to surface unconventional hybrid concepts.
   • Pair the blend with the Any style art-style option to keep the visual direction wide-open.
5. Constraint-based ideation
   • Add explicit constraints to your inputs (e.g. "one-button controls", "real-time with pause", "no text", "30-second sessions"). Constraints force the AI toward more inventive solutions.
   • Useful when scoping for a game jam, a specific platform limitation, or a deliberate design challenge.
6. Pull your own work back in
   • Drop a previously generated idea, or one of your existing Game Concepts (GDDs), into the input box to use it as a reference. Great for evolving a project rather than starting from scratch.
7. Use Ask Ludo as a thinking partner
   • Open Ask Ludo on a promising idea to brainstorm the core loop, ask for risk analysis, or request five alternative pitches before committing to a Project.
8. Combine ideas across batches
   • Run multiple generations and cherry-pick elements from different ideas when you build your final Game Concept.

The real power of the Game Ideator comes from how you interpret and build on its output. Treat each generation as raw material, not a final answer.

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Troubleshooting

Common problems and how to address them:

1. Generated ideas seem irrelevant to my inputs
   • Reduce the number of inputs — too many inputs dilute each one. Stick to 3-5 key elements.
   • Make inputs more specific (e.g. "merge mechanic" instead of "casual").
   • Check that your filters (Genres, Platform, Perspective) are compatible with your inputs.
2. Lack of variety across generations
   • Modify your inputs slightly between runs, or swap one input out for another.
   • Loosen a filter — switch Art Style to "Any style" or Perspective to "Any perspective".
   • Try broader themes, or combine inputs from different genres for more cross-pollination.
3. Concept art doesn't match the idea
   • Click the re-generate button on the concept art image to produce a new one for that specific card.
   • Make sure the chosen Art Style fits the type of game you're ideating (e.g. Pixel Art may not suit a photorealistic shooter).
   • For full control over the visual, use the Image Generator tool with a custom prompt.
4. Generation feels slow
   • Generation times can be longer during peak usage — usually resolves in a few minutes.
   • If it persists, try again later or contact support.
5. Unexpected error messages
   • Try refreshing the page, or logging out and back in.
   • If the error persists, contact Ludo.ai support with the error details.
6. Difficulty finding previously generated ideas
   • Recent generations appear directly in the Game Ideator and persist across sessions, but if an idea seems lost, try refreshing the page or paging through the history.
   • For ideas you want to develop further, use Create Project to convert them into a Game Concept you can return to anytime.
7. Ideas don't seem to fit my selected platform or genre
   • Double-check that filters were applied before generating (filters apply to the next generation, not retroactively).
   • Make sure your inputs are realistically achievable in the chosen filters — e.g. asking for a hyper-casual mobile MMORPG sends contradictory signals to the AI.

If you encounter persistent issues that these steps don't resolve, reach out to Ludo.ai customer support or join our Discord: https://discord.gg/FmTPyugsrR