Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games

by Robert Denton Bryant

Title. This should seem obvious. A good title is your first foot in the door. A bad or perfunctory title says to your reader that the concept is bad or perfunctory. • Cover Page with Artwork. Never mind that you’re not an artist. Borrow something that evokes the mood or setting you’re trying to convey. (Don’t make it a famous image, though, because then all your reader will be thinking about is the original work, not your work.) • Executive Summary. This is your GameFly Pitch. Tell me who I am, where I am, what I get to do, and why. • Genre and Core Game Mechanics. What are the main play mechanics? • Platform. Be as broad as possible. Is it for consoles? Mobile? PCs? You’re concerned here with how the user will play the game, rather than how it will be sold (e.g., boxed retail vs. via a download store.) • Concept (gameplay/story) Summary. This is a longer description of both the story and the gameplay. One page maximum. Be sure to discuss how the story reflects the gameplay, and vice versa. • Gameplay Description. Briefly discuss how this game plays differently from and better than similar recent hits in its genre. • World Description. Players will be spending a lot of their time in your game’s world. Why is it exciting? Different? Dramatic? Worthy of their exploration? • Protagonist Brief Bio. Also those of key NPCs and Bosses. • Description of Your Game’s Beginning. How will you start so that the pla...