Why Do We Need a Game Design Document?

What the talk is about

Anton Kolesnyk, a technical writer, explains what a game design document is and why it is needed, proposing to treat it as a set of software requirements. He sees a game as ordinary software, so its requirements follow the same principles: clear, concise and consistent. He walks through the requirement types (business, game world, functional and non-functional, system) and the work cycle: elicitation, analysis, specification, validation and updates. In his view a document is any medium that carries information, including video or a mockup, and the level of detail is set by whoever reads it. He closes with practical advice: modular structure, templates, consistent terminology and a glossary. Useful for game designers, producers and teams improving their documentation.