What's my Minimum Viable Product?

I’d like to make a game, but choosing how to start is such a challenge. I already have about a dozen or so partially started versions of the same thing, but usually get a roadblock that inevitably leaves me unmotivated. However, maybe this time it’ll be different.

Reading this wonderful article on how to plan your game (I highly recommend this site for so many well written game design tutorials, mostly Unity focused but not always) I learned about a Minimum Viable Product, a fancy way of saying “just enough of a prototype to get the gist of it.”

So what’s my MVP for my cleaning-bot game? I’m starting with this idea:

• You move around, picking up objects, to raise the appreciation level of an NPC

What will it need?

• An object to be the player
• Some objects to be pickupable
• An indicator of how many objects are picked up out of a set total
• A “thank you” message when you’re done to show end of demo
• One room with walls to contain you

What won’t it need?

• Artwork
• Sounds
• Music
• Background details
• Crafting or Upgrading system

If it’s not fun, how to make it fun?

• Add in a variety of other tasks, simple tasks, that raise different NPC’s appreciation levels
• The objects you pick up make you go faster for a set amount of time