Fundamentals of Game Design, Third Edition

Chapter 7. Game Concepts

Designing a video game begins with an idea. This chapter discusses how to turn that idea into a game concept, a more fleshed-out version of the idea that you can use as the basis for further discussion and development. Creating a game concept is what you do in the first stage of game design. Your goal at this point should be to write the high concept document that Chapter 2, “Designing and Developing Games,” discussed. To do this, you don’t have to have all the details worked out yet, but you do need to understand clearly what your game is about. You also need to know the answers to essential questions about your intended player, machine, and target audience, as well as how you plan to make money with your game (if you ...