The idea for the game was born out of a desire to have a game that could be played at dinner parties which was simple, fun and quick. At the same time, I was interested in creating an application that could be used on the iPhone and iPad which I love – but I really didn’t want to learn Objective C to create it, so it’s a perfect opportunity to learn more about iOS Web Apps, HTML 5 and CSS3.
In order to set up some parameters to guide the project I chose the following:
- The game would include some physical elements (a board, player pieces etc) so that there was a sense of where everyone was at any moment
- The game would include the ability to use images and recipes as questions in a way that made sense and was easy to incorporate
- The game needs to have some randomness to it – which is available via having some kind of programatic element to the process (other than dice)
- Since an iPad is kind of the right form factor for a menu or clipboard, the game would utilize that as a physical metaphor for something that’s happening in a restaurant or kitchen
- The game would use an online database of questions which would allow people to contribute to the database and which would provide an ever expanding array of play
- The game is based on the latest HTML 5 and CSS3 technology which is supported by the iPad and iPhone