Here’s a nice BBC article which covers a little of the development process of Splatoon, Journey and No Mans Sky…
@00:23 you’ll notice an all too familiar cube… great things can start from something small 
2 Likes
One of the purposes of the “ugly” prototype for Journey they mention in the video was to “fail fast”. Prototype an idea that sounds fantastic on paper or in a pitch, put it in people’s hands, and see how badly mistaken you were with as little cost as possible.
That prototype nailed the essence of failing fast, and it’s a good practice to live by in game development. In the case of Journey, the players were supposed to collaborate to overcome obstacles (push boulders out of the way, cross impassable spans, etc.). Instead we collectively ended up jamming one player into a corner behind a “rock” and creating an unwinnable condition.
You never know how well your concepts will be taken to by players until you actually subject the idea to someone who has no concept of your goals. They will quickly take to making a mess of your creation, sometimes without the slightest intent of malice whatsoever!
2 Likes
Good video. Definitely shows the value of prototyping and finding what is fun. Simple blocks, and in unreal Blueprints are great to get a concept out and then deal with optimization and graphics later. Easy to get caught up fixing a bad mechanic that you never really play tested.
1 Like
Glad you enjoyed it Bryant, and absolutely!