Brains… in… tanks!

While speaking at the local IGDA meeting last week, I needed a crazy board game example for some point I was making, and pulled from my metaphorical hat the idea of a sci-fi battle game with tanks piloted by human brains.

“Tanks! With brains in them!” I said. “It’s going to be huge!”

Yes, it was a joke. But being the hopeless game-designing geek I am, I couldn’t help but think about what such a game would look like. (And judging from the message board, it looks like others fell into the same trap. It also looks like Psychonauts beat me to the “Brains in Tanks” punch, but I’m sure the genre is large enough to support multiple designs.)

After mulling the ideas over the weekend, I’ve decided to try and make this game. Not for profit (probably), but just a public exercise in game design. It’s also an exercise in discipline, as I’ll be following the game design process I described at the meeting, which is a little more formal (i.e., better) than how I usually work.

One more thing before I dive into the design — the title for this odd little game:
“Think Tank.”

Of course. What else could it be?