Create a game design document

1. Overview

Now that you’ve got an initial idea and a clearer sense of your target users, it’s time to define the game that you want to make in more detail. In this tutorial, you’ll create a design document for your game, prioritize the game features, and consider the impact of user testing on your game.

2. Create your game design document

As part of creating the initial design work for Out of Circulation, the team held a number of collaborative working sessions to discuss the details of the project. We recorded our initial thoughts in a game design document. Game design documents are tools to help creators stay organized, whether you’re working independently or collaborating with a team.

To create your own game design document:

1. Download and review the basic game design document for Out of Circulation (.pdf download).
Note: This basic document doesn’t include accessibility planning, although it does contain some initial notes based on our early discussions.

2. Complete your own game design document using the work you have done so far. There are lots of different formats you can use for a game design document. You can download a basic game design document (.pdf download) as a starting point or use your own alternative approach.

3. Add any other details that you would like to record in your document, if these aren’t covered by the sections in the template.

3. Prioritize your game features

Now that you’ve identified the key features of your game, take some time to consider how important each of them is for the experience that you want to create.

To prioritize your game features:

1. Read over your user personas before you begin in order to help you keep your target audience clearly in mind during this process.

2. For each feature, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this feature a good fit for the experience that I want to create?

• What are the critical requirements for this feature, and what is non-essential (nice-to-have)? This should include specific mechanics, if you already have ideas about that.

• Which high-level accessibility categories is this feature likely to involve? These are:

• Motor

• Cognitive

• Vision

• Hearing

• Speech

Note: Don’t worry if you’re not sure of the exact categories that relate to each feature at this stage, just record your initial thoughts. You’ll work through this in more detail in the next tutorial.

3. Rank your features in order of importance in the experience. You could do this by deciding which features are critical and which are non-essential. You could also use a numerical scale — for example, from one [1] for critical features to three [3] for the lowest priority ones. Record your ranking in your game design document.

4. Player feedback throughout game development

User testing is a critical way to get feedback for any game creator, but it’s especially important when you’re prioritizing accessibility. It isn’t enough to rely on guidelines and personas — to take a properly inclusive design approach you need direct feedback from a wide range of players, including players with disabilities.

This starts at the design document stage — early user feedback now will help you identify any potential issues or challenges that you’ll need to navigate before you begin creating your game. Early feedback will also help you identify important accessibility considerations before you commit to a specific design or implementation approach for your game’s features.

It can feel intimidating to reach out for player feedback on your ideas, especially as an intermediate creator who might be working solo or with a very small team. That’s understandable, but it’s important to plan and organize your resources for user testing as a core part of game design and development.

5. Prepare to get feedback

In the next tutorial, you’ll create a production plan for your game and identify critical accessibility considerations. At that point, you’ll be ready to get player feedback on the design document and plan for your game.To prepare for this:

1. If you haven’t already done so, complete Community collaboration for accessible design, a module in Gaming accessibility fundamentals on Microsoft Learn. This module contains guidance on connecting and collaborating with the disability community as you work on your game.

2. Consider the compensation that you are able to offer. If you’re a hobbyist creator, you may not have a budget for your game beyond your own time. However, you may still be able to offer people something in recognition of their work. For example, you could offer:

• A project review with a focus that is related to your own lived experience.

• Other in-kind skills, such as advice in a technical area of expertise.

• A token gift, such as a small gift voucher.

It’s up to you how you approach this as a creator, but this is a decision that you should make before you reach out to anyone so you can provide clear information from the start of your conversations.

3. Reach out to potential reviewers/testers respectfully, well in advance of when you will need the feedback. Provide as much information as possible when you contact people or share your request on social media in order to help people make an informed decision about your request.

Note: In the next project, you’ll find out more about user testing for Out of Circulation and how it impacted the development of the vertical slice.

6. Next steps

Now you’ve created a game design document and prioritized your game’s features, you’re ready to create a plan for production. In the next tutorial, you’ll create a milestone plan for your game that incorporates accessibility guidelines. You’ll also explore a range of resources to help you decide how to design and implement the features for your game.