The first thing I do is stay away from genres that are already flooded with games.
For example, first person shooters. There are tons of them out there, but almost every one of them follow the EXACT same gameplay. Also, there are more than a few AAA titles in this category so it would be very difficult for an individual or small team to come out with something that can go head to head with one of them.
What I tend to do is look at games I enjoy (or used to enjoy) and see if I can bring something new to the game. This could be something as simple as improved graphics, or maybe a different control scheme.
One of my ideas, for example, involved a clown on a unicycle. The main idea of the gameplay was marble maddness, but instead of rolling the ball around, you peddled the unicycle around while also having to maintain your ballance. It used a tried and true formula, but was also very unique in it's look. See the Bigtop Bob images here
For example, first person shooters. There are tons of them out there, but almost every one of them follow the EXACT same gameplay. Also, there are more than a few AAA titles in this category so it would be very difficult for an individual or small team to come out with something that can go head to head with one of them.
What I tend to do is look at games I enjoy (or used to enjoy) and see if I can bring something new to the game. This could be something as simple as improved graphics, or maybe a different control scheme.
One of my ideas, for example, involved a clown on a unicycle. The main idea of the gameplay was marble maddness, but instead of rolling the ball around, you peddled the unicycle around while also having to maintain your ballance. It used a tried and true formula, but was also very unique in it's look. See the Bigtop Bob images here