Why Bother Making a GDD?

The primary function of most Game Design Documents is to make sure the entire team is working with the same level of understanding, but even as a solo developer a GDD can still help eliminate scope creep, act as an outline for the narrative, and provide a timeline to both keep on pace and prevent burnout. However your GDD doesn't have to do any of these things, as a GDD is first and foremost a tool for you to use as you see fit.

To speak anecdotally for a moment, before I was forced to create a GDD for a Game Jam in 2025, I never used one. Prior to that Game Jam in 2025, our fledgling studio attempted work on 3 separate projects of lesser size than that 2025 game jam, and none of them ever made it past a week of "development." Then came that Game Jam, in which our game was the 47th most popular out of ~1700. I attribute this personal victory entirely to the GDD, a copy of which may be seen here, as a strict timeline was exactly the fire the team needed to find motivation to work. Today I'm proud to say we're 9 months in on an RPG, and our GDD, whose draft was written in under a day, has proven itself exceedingly useful time and time again.

To make my point, you do not need a Game Design Document. But I, and most of my colleagues, will never make a game without one again.

Sections of a GDD

The following are the sections I would recommend for your consideration when writing your own GDD. You needn't add them all, our current RPG's GDD certainly doesn't have them all, these are just recommendations. I cannot stress enough, a GDD is only and only has to be what you make it.

A summary of your game that ideally includes genre, characters, story, inspirations, a brief description of the visual style, and a hook, all in less than 100 words. In my documents, I also like to include images that are immediately and obviously relevant to the pitch itself.

I recommend a pitch be a part of your GDD if you're working with a team or if you intend to eventually bring on contractors or to pitch to publishers.

A clear statement of which "kinds of fun" (see Riot Games'8 Kinds of Fun) your game will adhere to the closest. It's generally recommended to choose 3 of these pillars, however simpler games could do with less, if any.

I recommend design pillars be a part of your GDD if it's a more complicated project, as reminding yourself of what's important can help fend off scope creep.

A short blurb of exactly what a player will experience.

I recommend a player experience section be a part of your GDD if your game doesn't warrant the inclusion of design pillars, as it fulfills the same purpose of reminding yourself of what's important.

A breakdown of who (and how) the game is targeted at, such as developing for PC or console, what stores (digital or physical) to sell it at/on, or who the game is for, like soulslike fans or humble farming sim enjoyers.

I recommend an audience and market section to anyone. Knowing and catering to your audience, and more importantly their likes and dislikes, is a major player in the success of any game.

This is likely the meat of any Game Design Document, and as such it's often even split up into several smaller sections such as:

• Core Gameplay
• Additional Mechanics
• UX and UI
• Controls
• Gameplay Balance and Pacing

I recommend a gameplay overview section to anyone. If a game design document could only have one section, it should be this one... and its children. Obviously.

A summary of your game's world, if relevant, and its narrative. The larger your world and the deeper its narrative, the longer this summary should be.

I recommend a narrative section be part of your GDD if the story matters. The gamejam GDD I provided as an example has no story section, as the "story" that does exist was an afterthought, added only because we had extra time. However our current RPG GDD's narrative sections make up the bulk of the document.

Art direction is hard to generalize, as art direction can have vastly different impacts for different games, be it irrelevant (Rogue) or the single most important part of the game (Journey). To provide some guidance, our GDDs usually include examples, either inspiration or genuine assets, of our art style, a written explanation of our art direction, a breakdown of tone, and a small color palette to express the aesthetics in a simple manner.

I recommend an art section be a part of your GDD if you're working with a team or if you intend to eventually bring on contractors or to pitch to publishers, doubly so if you don't have an elevator pitch.

Much like with art direction, Music and Sound Design are hard to generalize, as a rhythm game's music will undoubtedly be more important than a roguelike. Not strictly better, obviously, but certainly more important. To provide some guidance, our GDDs usually include examples, either inspiration or finished pieces, a written explanation of our dream sound, and where we intend to source the sounds and music from.

I recommend a Music and Sound Design section be a part of your GDD if you're working with a team or if you intend to eventually bring on contractors or to pitch to publishers, however the level of detail required for this section more or less should correlate to how important sound is to your game.

A breakdown, be it rigid or flexible, of when various sections of the game should be complete.

I recommend a development timeline to anyone working on a gamejam, a smaller project, or working full time as an indie developer. If you're not on a time crunch and work on a game during your spare time, I'd actually recommend not including a timeline, or at the very least not a rigid one, as there's no reason to stress yourself out of a passion project.