Build Games Fast

On the online MA in Indie Game Development at Falmouth University, student Ollie Masson built a small playable prototype in two weeks. He completed the work as part of the Rapid Ideation Session assignment—a short learning sprint where speed and validating ideas through hands-on implementation matter.

Formats like this in education are usually called rapid iterations, where the result is created not for polish but for experience. The approach has supporters and critics. Some believe a hard deadline keeps you disciplined and quickly exposes skill gaps, while others point to the risk of superficial solutions and underestimating testing.

A beginner with no experience—and a focus on practice

Masson came into the master’s program with no game-dev background and expected it to be overwhelming in advance. In the break between his bachelor’s degree and the start of the program, he tried to catch up on the basics through tutorials so he could at least navigate the terminology and tool interfaces.

In his description, the course structure turned out to be flexible and practice-oriented. Instead of emphasizing memorizing a large body of theory, the program is built around making games, trying out techniques, and choosing a personalized learning path where you can go deeper into the skills that interest you. The minimum entry requirement in this logic essentially comes down to an interest in games and in the process of making them.

A short learning sprint as a path into the iGaming industry

Unlike the traditional video game industry, iGaming in recent years has been oriented toward delivering a quality product quickly. This is because competition among online casinos has intensified. The main task of any virtual platform is user acquisition and retention. And the easiest way to do this is with a broad game catalog.

At the same time, they shouldn’t be too similar. The player is no longer willing to play only traditional games in different variations. As a result, more and more entertainment with new mechanics is appearing in online casinos—these are the same crash games, such as Lucky Jet, Aviator, Jet X, Aviatrix, or Plinko. With the right approach, the rapid-development principle can also become the foundation of these entertainment products.

The modern gambling market needs a large number of games, and a lot of variety. And some games become major hits, which only leads to larger teams for their development and ongoing support. For example, at https://luckyjetgame.org/ you can see that the list of online casinos offering the Lucky Jet game is very extensive. This clearly demonstrates strong demand. And it is also a profitable niche for developers who are ready to offer fast solutions without sacrificing quality.

Rapid Ideation Session and the two-week rule

As part of the Rapid Ideation Session, the group was tasked with making a small but functional game in 14 days. The sprint principle in this description sounds like prioritizing testability over perfection, where the prototype had to run, respond to player input, and demonstrate the concept.

The short timeframe shifts your perspective on development. Feature selection and the ability to cut scope come to the fore, rather than striving to meet every audience expectation. The weak point of this mode is also obvious: some tasks inevitably turn into technical debt, and content quality and mechanic balance often remain at a rough-draft level.

A Japanese Zen garden as a prototype idea

For his project, Masson chose a Japanese Zen garden simulator. The prototype is based on a simple structure where the player builds a miniature garden and presents the result as a finished composition, rather than progressing through narrative levels.

Among the available elements, he describes a basic set of objects and decor. In the prototype, the following components were used in particular:

• rocks and trees as major focal points of the composition
• ponds and other landscape elements
• patterns in the sand that mimic rake marks and the surface’s rhythm

Separately, Masson explains his choice of theme through his personal experience of living in Japan. Familiarity with the cultural context made it possible to reduce the research workload and not spend days fact-checking reference details, leaving more time to put together mechanics and the interface.

Unity, C# and first engineering habits

The prototype was built on the Unity engine. Masson cites two reasons for the choice that are typical for a beginner developer, when the decision is based on the availability and approachability of the tool:

• Unity was the only engine he had time to try before the master’s program started
• the project was conceived as 2D, and Unity was seen as a suitable environment for such tasks

In parallel, he had to get up to speed with C#—the programming language typically used to write logic for Unity. In the work, basic scripts and reusable code snippets came up, for example spawner logic that creates objects according to a rule, and an audio manager using the Singleton pattern, where one object controls sound across the entire scene. For writing code, he learned Visual Studio Community and described the IDE as a tool that significantly reduces errors and makes project navigation easier, especially at the beginning.

Support for online students and skill-sharing

In his story, Masson separately notes support available remotely. He mentions weekly learning materials on development techniques and the ability to get help quickly, as well as instructors with industry experience, which reduces the risk of getting stuck on one problem for long.

Peer-to-peer collaboration also worked at the group level. A classmate who came in after a specialized background in game programming helped Masson with C#. In return, Masson showed him the basics of Aseprite, a popular pixel art tool often used for 2D graphics and animation in small projects.

Sprint outcome, the deep-water metaphor, and the limits of the approach

By the deadline, Masson had a playable prototype, and he describes the value of a short cycle through the ability to quickly test ideas and compare approaches, including by watching and playing classmates’ projects.

Under these conditions, a beginner gets a chance to understand what they can realistically build with their current skills, while a more experienced student can step outside their usual specialization and try a new role.

Masson explains his experience with a deep-water metaphor, where there are inflatable rings around you and a lifeguard nearby. The comparison emphasizes a mix of deadline stress and a sense of safety thanks to the course structure and support from others. At the same time, the question remains open about the transferability of that result to real studio workflows, where more attention goes to testing, optimization, and requirements work, rather than the mere fact of assembling a prototype in 14 days.