Game Design Document (GDD)
Every professional game starts with a design document. Fill this out before you start building!
The Basics
| Field | Your Answer |
|---|---|
| Game Title | |
| Designer | |
| Date | |
| 2D or 3D? | |
| Genre (platformer, puzzle, adventure, etc.) |
The Elevator Pitch
Describe your game in 1-2 sentences. Imagine you have 30 seconds to explain it to someone:
Core Mechanic
What is the ONE thing the player does most? (jump, shoot, explore, solve puzzles, collect)
Player Goal
What is the player trying to accomplish?
Controls
| Action | Key / Button |
|---|---|
| Move left | |
| Move right | |
| Jump / Move up | |
| Crouch / Move down | |
| Special action | |
| Pause |
Characters
Player Character
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| What do they look like? | |
| What can they do? (abilities) | |
| What's their weakness? |
Sketch your character here (or on the Pixel Art Grid):
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Enemies (list up to 3)
| Enemy | What it does | How to defeat it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||
| 2. | ||
| 3. |
Levels / Areas
| Level | Name | Theme | New Element |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
Game Loop
How does the game flow? Fill in the blanks:
- Player starts at: _______________
- Player tries to: _______________
- If they succeed: _______________
- If they fail: _______________
- Game ends when: _______________
Art Style
What does your game look like? (circle or describe)
- Pixel art (retro)
- Cartoon / colorful
- Realistic
- Dark / spooky
- Minimalist / clean
- Other: _______________
Color palette (pick 3-5 main colors):
| Color 1 | Color 2 | Color 3 | Color 4 | Color 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sound
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Music mood (energetic, chill, spooky) | |
| Jump sound | |
| Collect sound | |
| Damage sound | |
| Win sound |
What Makes Your Game Special?
What's the ONE thing that makes your game different from every other game?