Game Design Document

Having a Game Design Document ("GDD") is great for defining a project and giving it some direction. It also helps prevent the dreaded scope creep. I say "helps prevent" because scope creep is inevitable.

Below is a template to be used as a rough guide on what to include in a GDD.

Template

Concept

Theme

This can be anything - a game jam prompt, an overall story vibe theme, such as "rebellion", or just something you are interested in evoking, such as "cosy"

Genre

Action, adventure, puzzle...

Sub-genre

Fighter, platformer, rhythm...

Setting

Science fiction, fantasy, western...

Gameplay

Game Loop

E.g. 1. plant seeds, 2. water, 3. sleep, 4. repeat 2 & 3 until, 5. harvest

Objective

What objective does your game have? Is it open-ended, or does it have a definite ending?

Interactions

How you want the player to interact with things in the game - do you want puzzle pieces they can click on, or use a keybind? And what kind of interactions should there be? Should there be doors? Should you be able to rotate objects in your inventory?

Environments

What environments are needed for the game and how do they interact with the player character/controls?

Navigation / Controls

What are the controls for the game? How will the player move around, or do they click on anything? What about controller support?

Quests

What does the quest system look like? What kinds of tasks will be required? What kinds of rewards? Will the system need to be modular, or custom coded for each quest?

Goals

What is the goal of the game? What does the player do in the game?

Game Flow

Level Design

What do your levels look like? How do they link up? Are there any shortcuts or secret areas?

Splash Screens

Will you use splash screens? What will be on them?

Cinematics

What will your cinematics convey? What purpose do they give to the game?

Menus

What menus do you want to include? How will they be accessed, both before and during the game? Think of accessibility here too.

Maps

Will the game need maps? One, or many? Will they be diegetic (such as Minecraft's maps) or UI overlays (such as World of Warcraft)?

Story

Characters

Who are your characters? What purpose do they have in your story?

Act 1

What happens in Act 1? Will go more in depth with 3-act structure in Writing (when I eventually get to that)

Act 2

What happens in Act 2? Will go more in depth with 3-act structure in Writing (when I eventually get to that)

Act 3

What happens in Act 3? Will go more in depth with 3-act structure in Writing (when I eventually get to that)