Having Your Player Over for Dinner: Composition and Emergence in Video Games

3D chess board and pieces.

Hello, I hope this day finds you well!

I've been researching the art of game production for awhile, and I've come to formulate some new strategies for game design and development.

I believe, first and foremost, that access to game production should be expanded as widely as possible. Diversity is essential to progressing our collective understanding of humanity and our existence, and with this can come a brighter world.

In light of this, I'd like to donate a modern Game Design Document to the world, free of charge. This document can be used for personal, educational, or commercial use, royalty-free under Creative Commons license CC BY-ND 4.0 Deed.

Game Design Document with Instructions

Here is the link to the Dropbox download for the Word document: Game Design Document

The PDF version of the document can also be viewed on this page if you keep scrolling down.

This is a comprehensive 32-page Game Design Document that covers most aspects of present-day game production. It's compiled from research and best practices in design and production from various fields.

The Word document, from the Dropbox link, comes with instructions under each category, which can be overridden and deleted as it's being filled out.

None of this document was created using generative AI.

On that note, please do not use this document for training generative AI or other AI content generation.

Please check out the foreword for additional information about how it's organized.

Thank you for your time, and I hope that this helps you on your game journey!


View Game Design Document PDF