Comments on: Rules We Don’t Break The Single Invention rule sounds like a special (and someone over-constraining) expression of the MAYA principle. Also known as: Most Advanced Yet Acceptable or "The same, but different!" All it means is that consumers want a balance of new and recognizable. Too recognizable, and it's "been there, done that". Too new, and its alien-ness turns them off at first sight, even if it is actually awesome. The Single Invention rule sounds like a special (and someone over-constraining) expression of the MAYA principle. Also known as:

Most Advanced Yet Acceptable
or
“The same, but different!”

All it means is that consumers want a balance of new and recognizable. Too recognizable, and it’s “been there, done that”. Too new, and its alien-ness turns them off at first sight, even if it is actually awesome.

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By: Rules We Don’t Break » Broken Rules Blog/2011/03/25/rules-we-dont-break/#comment-2638 Rules We Don’t Break » Broken Rules Blog Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:19:16 +0000 We've tried the Google approach first. But in the end, once you're in the office you're available for duty. And it's hard to tell someone that you're on your 20% time when there's a bug in the engine code you could quickly fix. The main difference to a four day week is the fact that it is not a day off. You're expected to work on your Brain Day. It's just up to you what you consider as work. Weekends are for getting away from work. The Brain Day is for getting a new viewpoint. In reality it might turn out as a four day week for some people and as something entirely different for others. Now I hope it doesn't sound to esoteric. We’ve tried the Google approach first. But in the end, once you’re in the office you’re available for duty. And it’s hard to tell someone that you’re on your 20% time when there’s a bug in the engine code you could quickly fix.

The main difference to a four day week is the fact that it is not a day off. You’re expected to work on your Brain Day. It’s just up to you what you consider as work. Weekends are for getting away from work. The Brain Day is for getting a new viewpoint. In reality it might turn out as a four day week for some people and as something entirely different for others.

Now I hope it doesn’t sound to esoteric.

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By: Adam Clixby/2011/03/25/rules-we-dont-break/#comment-1987 Adam Clixby Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:33:58 +0000 The Single Invention Rule reminds me of a talk Ike Ellis (formerly Big Huge Games, now Zynga East) gave at the IGDA Leadership Forum. His idea is that, okay, in game dev you often have certain things that are critical to your game but you have no idea how you're actually going implement them. These are basically just innovations as you put it. Instead of assigning these as "milestones" in the production schedule, he calls them "miracles," which nicely conveys how important and how risky they are. And he tries to keep a project to 1 or 2, maybe 3 miracles. Seems in line with your practice! The Single Invention Rule reminds me of a talk Ike Ellis (formerly Big Huge Games, now Zynga East) gave at the IGDA Leadership Forum. His idea is that, okay, in game dev you often have certain things that are critical to your game but you have no idea how you’re actually going implement them. These are basically just innovations as you put it. Instead of assigning these as “milestones” in the production schedule, he calls them “miracles,” which nicely conveys how important and how risky they are. And he tries to keep a project to 1 or 2, maybe 3 miracles. Seems in line with your practice!

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