Key Deliverables

Game Concept Document

A game concept document serves as a repository for ideas related to a game. It encompasses impressions, loose thoughts, inspirations, and sketches that describe various aspects of the game.

Step 1. Ideation
  1. Plan a creative session. It’s good practice to make it happen with a clear starting and end time (timebox).
  2. Ideate a game using creative techniques. Useful ones can be found here:
    1. Design Method Toolkit
    2. Concept Frenzy
    3. Game Design Moodboard
  3. Make sure to take notes.
  4. If your team is not satisfied with the resulting ideas or concept, plan a new session and try a different method.
Step 2. Documentation
  1. Collect all the notes, sketches, references, etc.
  2. Create a shared document such as a Google Doc or wiki.
  3. Arrange the collected material in a logical, coherent way in the document.  You can choose to treat this as a first game design document, but in this stage it’s not necessary yet.
Step 3. Refinement
  1. Based on the collected material, try to define a logline that describes your game concept in a paragraph or two. Put it in a chapter at the top of the document, before the other material.
  2. Is there at game that resembles this concept? Put at least one reference  below the logline.
  3. Think of a temporary title that describes the game concept.