Game Design Essentials

APPENDIX C

Game Design Document

Bedlam Games, located in Toronto, Canada, and makers of the Dungeons & Dragons games, work routinely with Game Design Documents. The following is an excerpt from their GDD for the game Red Harvest. The excerpt was prepared by their creative director, Zando Chan.

Notice that the GDD contains references to audio, scripted dialogue, lore, level design (map and metrics, which are the dimensions of the space), concept art for the characters, description of the actions, and information about the interfaces including the importance of a timer.

Keep in mind that what you are reading is part of an actual GDD that many different artists, programmers, animators, etc. worked from to build the game. As you read, imagine what ...