Theme can inspire game design, but you have to be sure it doesn’t tie your hands. During development, you might discover that you need to alter a mechanism to make the game better. It’s hard to make that change if it goes against the theme.
Quotes about theme
If you’re playing a game with a theme, you have to feel it in the gameplay. You should be presented with the same problems and situations as those who experienced that theme first-hand. In addition, you’ll very often come up with mechanics that you otherwise would never have thought of.
My aim has always been to blend the elegance of the Euro style of design with the thematic immersion that you find in American games. For me theme comes before mechanisms.
I try and design games as a thematic whole. Over my entire career, you could say that I am fascinated by hermetically sealed completeness. What Agatha Christie said about her books I’d like to claim for my games.
For me, it’s important that the theme supports the gameplay, but never at the expense of a clear mechanism. That means that I will never include a detailed rule just to be closer to the theme.
