Introduction to genres of game documentation

1. Game Documentation Common Genres

2. Game Development:
Document Genres
• Game Design Document
• High Concept Documents
• Pitch Docs
• Narrative Pitch
• Game Pitch
• One-liner descriptions
• Story Outline/Plot Guide
• Character Folios/Profile
• World Overview Document

3. Game Design
Document (GDD)
Details the features, story, and
characters of the game.
Covers every aspect of the game
Evolving and living document

4. The Pitch Document
Marketing document intended to
present a vision of the game
experience
Design to generate excitement.
Short, high flavor, visual

5. Game Pitch Doc vs.
Narrative Pitch Doc
Game pitch describes project and
vision
Narrative pitch focuses only on
narrative part of the game
Elements of Pitch Document
• Title, Genre, Platform
• Target Audience
• One-linear description
• Story Description
• For game pitch:
• Gameplay
• Example of gameplay
• For narrative pitch:
• Fluff text
• Story integration

6. High Concept Docs
(one-linear description)
Helpful tool to develop your pitch
One-liner description: 1-2 sentence
description of the core idea of a
game, its mood, and its creativity
One-liner comparison: 1-3 sentence
description of a game that includes
elements such as genre, protagonist,
comparable game, goal, and type of
game world

7. Sample one-liner descriptions
• “Use FPS4-style shooting to create tunnels that let you
travel to and from anywhere. Use these tunnels to
escape a physical and psychological prison.”
• “Journey into the ruins of an underwater colony
dedicated to Ayn Rand and fight the monsters who
remain there, as you learn what happened in the disaster
that destroyed it.”
• “Play a soldier on a rescue mission to find a lost soldier
while facing post-traumatic stress disorder.”
“The Concept,” Game Narrative Toolbox

8. More sample one-linear descriptions
“The Concept,” Game Narrative Toolbox

9. Sample one-liner comparisons
• Mass Effect: “A third-person shooter with a fully voiced
character who learns about an ancient alien conspiracy in
the far future.”
• Dragon Age: Origins: “A western RPG similar to Baldur’s
Gate with a customizable character who must defeat an
ancient evil in a dark-fantasy world.”
• Skyrim: “An open-world RPG, even larger than Oblivion,
with a customizable character who can be and do
anything, while fighting off a flood of dragons in a war-
torn fantasy world.”
“The Concept,” Game Narrative Toolbox

10. More sample one-linear comparisons
“The Concept,” Game Narrative Toolbox

11. Template
A [GENRE OF GAME] (optional similar to
[GAME]) with a [TYPE OF CHARACTER]
who [ACCOMPLISHES A GOAL] in [TYPE
OF GAME WORLD].
“The Concept,” Game Narrative Toolbox