Designing the game
In order to prepare you for the larger game you will make over the course of this book, let's first get a good idea of what you're going to make, so that you can better understand what we're doing and why at each step along the way.
The game we will design is called Survival Island—which you can of course rebrand and retitle if you wish! The basic concept is that your character has awoken on a desert island, with only an active volcano and a mysterious cabin for company. Your goal is to survive your night on the island by lighting a fire to signal for help and keep warm.
In order to light the fire you must acquire the matches that are locked away in the cabin. To unlock the cabin the player must pick up several power cells to fuel the generator that powers the door to the cabin. This would be simple except that the final power cell is locked into a minigame requiring the player to knock down timed targets at a coconut shy shooting gallery—knock them all down simultaneously...
