Our Process

Step One: The Problem

From communicating the concept of information poverty during a UNICEF workshop to educating conference-goers about elder abuse through a themed escape room: games are powerful tools. They can do so much more than pass the time and entertain us if we open ourselves to their possibilities.

You can visit our Projects page or Case Studies to see some of the exciting problems Soft Chaos has already solved with games.

The First Step is the easiest: just let us know about your problem. No detail is too small. Tell us everything.

Step Two: The Constraints

Once we know the problem you’re looking to solve, we figure out the constraints around us solving it for you. We’ll work through three main questions:

What: What exactly do you want your game to do? Is it a game to teach about shifting tectonic plates? Teambuild with colleagues? Give as a wedding favour? Do you want your team to learn about game design through the process?

When: What is your timeline for the game? Is it to give as a wedding favour next year? Or for a workshop you’re running in 3 months?

How: What is your budget for the game?

We've made great games with crafty scraps and executed simple games on a grand scale with a budget to spare. Because this is our field, we know the value and cost of the physical materials and human resources needed to bring games of all varieties to life.

Don't let small budgets keep you from opening a dialogue.
We can scale concepts up and down according to your available resources.

Step Three: Proposed Solutions

This is the fun part for you: Soft Chaos proposes solutions! During this step, our team will propose several initial concepts—keeping in mind all of the constraints we discovered. We’ll BLOW YOUR MIND about what games can be!

Step Four and Beyond!

These can vary drastically depending on your project, but generally follow a similar pattern.

Step Four: Once you’ve seen a solution you like, Soft Chaos will make you a detailed proposal deck of the idea—fleshing it out and giving shape to what that solution could look like for you. Whether your budget was big or small, we work with you to get the most out of it.

Step Five: We decide how involved you want to be, based on your interest and how it impacts the budget and timeline. This can be as hands-off as setting a date for delivery and getting your project that day. Or as hands-on as learning to program yourself while we do the project*.

*If you want to learn, be sure to come to us early! This option takes the longest time, even for the smallest game. But you not only get a game, you also get our educational expertise.

Step Six: We determine the final timeline and scope. Every step leading up to this one helps us know what we can do within your budget and deliver on time. We’ll present you with the options we think will work best for you.

Step Seven: You sign a contract and we do the work (sometimes with you!), checking in and keeping you updated along the way.

Step Eight: You get your game! Or class. Or whatever wonderful thing Soft Chaos has created for you. You can check out our Case Studies to see how happy our past clients have been with our work.