A working document, not a design bible
Turn the game in your head into a buildable page.
Practical GDD templates and design-document methods for turning an idea into the next buildable decision.
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Put a Change Log in the Game Design Document
A source-linked guide to put a change log in the game design document.
Every GDD Decision Needs an Owner
A source-linked guide to every gdd decision needs an owner.
The AI-Written GDD Confidence Trap
Generative AI can turn unanswered design questions into polished paragraphs, making uncertainty look like a settled production plan.
A Prototype Does Not Replace the Design Document
The build shows current behavior. The document preserves intent, assumptions, dependencies, unresolved decisions, and the reason a rule exists.
How to Document Systems, Economies, and Progression
A hands-on guide to writing the hardest parts of a GDD: interacting systems, in-game economies, and progression curves that stay clear enough to build.
The Playtest Plan Belongs in the GDD
Connect a game's design decisions to testable player questions, build versions, evidence, and the next decision instead of storing playtesting as a loose task list.
Living Design Docs: Keeping Your GDD Alive Past Month One
Most game design documents die within weeks. Learn the lean, modular habits that keep a GDD accurate, trusted, and actually used through full production.
Writing a One-Page GDD That Wins a Greenlight
How to compress your whole game into a single persuasive page, with a section-by-section walkthrough and a worked example built to survive a pitch.
The Sections Every GDD Needs (And Three It Doesn't)
A practical breakdown of the core game design document sections that earn their place, plus three bloated sections you can safely cut in 2026.
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