Two Years, One Idea, and a Determined Mind to Create the Isle of Wight Follies Mind Map and game.

Every big adventure starts with a story. The Isle of Wight Follies began with just one, a single tale about a mythical creature. Then there were 44. Then there was a website. Then came the idea of a treasure hunt, the Isle of Wight Follies mind map was going, but not structured, so just like that, it all became...nothing!

For several months, the project sat still, like a dragon curled up asleep. Until one night at 3:33 am, the spark came back. And just like that, the dragon woke up.

Something was missing. The treasure hunt was there, the way businesses could join in was sketched out, but it all needed a connector. Something tangible, something people could hold in their hands, something that would tie the whole thing together.

For months, this gap vexed my mind. I scribbled, I muttered, I paced. Then, in a fit of desperation, I went trawling through chat forums and old message boards, searching for what people really asked about the Isle of Wight. And there it was, the spark. Again and again, people wanted to know: “Do you need a passport to visit the Isle of Wight?”.

Now people often confuse the Isle of Man with the Isle of Wight, and while you dont need a passport to visit the Isle of Man, they 'strongly suggest' you have it with you, thus the timeless Isle of Wight passport question.

For years, that question had cropped up on chat boards, even within articles by local and national press; it has gone on for so long that Gary the Gurnard Golem is said to have been the first to have scratched that question onto parchment and tacked it up on the tavern's social notice board, 'Fate Hook'.

So we have it, the Isle of Wight Passport. The connector, the entry point, the recognisable symbol that pulls everything into one neat story, this is the key!

The key that made everything click, a way for players to join instantly, and a way for businesses to make sense of it all, too. That was the turning point where the Follies stopped being just a set of ideas and became a living, breathing game.

Obviously, it then needed to be designed, but that's a whole other tangent, let's simply, take a look.

☕ Coffee Helps, But So Does Stubbornness

Behind it all: one overly caffeinated brain, one overheating laptop, and a refusal to let the spark die. If you’ve ever had a big idea, you’ll know the feeling, excitement at first, followed by doubt, followed by the sudden realisation that you’re awake at 4:44 in the morning sketching a treasure hunt on the back of a receipt. (And yes, you should go four it. See what I did there?)

📓 Notes, Lore, and Startled Strangers

A project like this doesn’t just live on a laptop; it spills into notebooks, scraps of paper, and conversations with random people who never saw it coming.

Someone might casually mention Bembridge, and before I can stop myself, I’ll say: “Ah yes, that’s where the werewolves live.” The look on their face says it all, they think I’ve gone stark raving mad.

Then they mention popping over to Newport, and I can’t resist: “Watch out for the dragons.” That’s usually the point where the polite smile fades, they back away slowly, and within seconds their tyres are screeching as they make their escape. Honestly, dragons aren’t that scary!

✨ The Lesson

Here’s the truth: there’s no such thing as a bad idea, except the idea of not trying. Not trying is the only guaranteed way to fail, and it’s the worst kind of fail. It leaves you with that nagging “what if?” rattling around in your head, and that’s a question that never really goes away.

Give it a go, whatever it is. If you try and don’t succeed, that’s a good fail. You learn, you grow, you move forward. You earn the right to say, “I gave it a shot.” And in that way, you’re already ahead of most. In fact, there’s no one quite as lucky as the person who dares to try.

Big ideas always look daunting when you zoom out, a tangle of connections like the mind map below. But taken one step at a time (and occasionally two steps sideways), those big ideas can take shape. The Isle of Wight Follies is living proof: what started with a single story became passports, quests, makers, businesses, and families, all stitched together into a world of wonder.

So if you find yourself staring at a wild idea in the dead of night, don’t shrug it off. Chase it. Even if it takes coffee, chaos, and questionable sanity. Who knows, it might just change your Island.

Follies Mind Map

Download here, if you like:)