The No-Nonsense Guide to Documenting Game Design Decisions

Game design decisions, however small, ripple throughout development. Unrecorded choices lead to technical debt and strained communication. A robust documentation process is essential for preventing these issues.

The Cost of Unwritten Decisions: A Case Study

Consider a hypothetical indie RPG, “Chronicles of Eldoria.” The initial design called for a simple combat system with turn-based actions. The lead designer, sketching on a whiteboard, decided that “buffs and debuffs will simply apply to base stats.” This seemed straightforward.

Months later, a programmer implementing a “Haste” spell noted that applying a flat speed increase to a character’s base speed felt clunky. They proposed a percentage-based increase. The designer, having forgotten the whiteboard session, approved the change. This small adjustment cascaded. Later, another designer introduced an item that “doubles all stat bonuses.” The interaction between percentage-based Haste and a doubling item created unexpected combat imbalances. Debugging became a nightmare. The original “simple” decision had no written record, leading to assumptions, reworks, and wasted development time. This scenario highlights why a disciplined approach to tracking your game development progress is critical.

Identifying Critical Decision Points

Not every thought needs to be documented, but key design decisions require a record. Focus on choices that:

• Affect core gameplay mechanics.
• Introduce new systems or modify existing ones.
• Have potential technical implications.
• Involve trade-offs or alternative paths.

For instance, deciding between real-time or turn-based combat is a critical point. So is choosing the data structure for inventory items, or how save files will handle player progress. These are moments where a deliberate game dev journal entry pays dividends.

Choosing the Right Documentation Method

The method for your game development log should evolve with your project.

• Early Stage (Concept & Prototype): Keep it lean. Use simple text files, shared documents, or a dedicated game dev journal. Focus on high-level concepts, core loops, and initial technical considerations. A brief entry on “Combat System V1: Turn-based, 3 actions per turn, flat stat buffs” would have saved Chronicles of Eldoria.
• Mid-Stage (Pre-Alpha & Alpha): As systems mature, documentation needs to become more structured. Wiki pages, design documents, and specialized game development log tools are ideal. Detail specific mechanics, edge cases, and technical dependencies. Documenting "Haste Spell: 25% increase to character speed (percentage-based, applied post-base stat calculation)" clarifies expectations.
• Late Stage (Beta & Post-Launch): Documentation shifts to bug tracking, polish notes, and post-mortem analysis. Maintain a consistent game development log for tracking live issues and future updates.

The Indispensable Role of Rationale

Simply stating a decision isn’t enough. The why behind a decision is paramount. Include the rationale, alternatives considered, and potential consequences. This prevents others (or your future self) from questioning or inadvertently undermining past choices.

For the Haste spell example, a full entry might look like this: “Decision: Haste Spell mechanics. Rationale: Changed from flat speed increase to percentage-based (+25% character speed). Flat increase felt less impactful for varied base speeds and could lead to trivializing certain encounters. Percentage provides more consistent scaling across character archetypes. Alternatives Considered: Cooldown reduction, extra action points (rejected due to complexity with existing action system). Potential Consequences: May interact unexpectedly with stat-doubling items. Need to monitor balance carefully.”

This level of detail transforms a simple note into a powerful communication tool. It ensures that everyone understands the “why,” fostering better collaboration and reducing rework.

Tracking Changes and Avoiding Pitfalls

Consistency is the cornerstone of effective documentation.

• Version Control for Documents: Just like code, design documents should be version-controlled. This allows you to track changes, revert to previous versions, and see who made what modifications.
• Regular Updates: Documentation isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process. Update your game development log whenever a design decision is made, modified, or revoked.
• Accessibility: Ensure your documentation is easily accessible to everyone on the team. A fragmented system is no better than no system.
• Avoid Over-Documentation: Don’t document every minor tweak. Focus on decisions that have significant implications for gameplay, systems, or technical implementation. Over-documentation leads to stale, unread documents.
• The "Single Source of Truth": Aim for one primary location for design decisions. If information is scattered across emails, chat logs, and disparate documents, it becomes unreliable.

Streamlining Your Process

For solo developers and small teams, the idea of extensive documentation can feel daunting. However, it doesn’t have to be. Start simple. A dedicated game development journal, even a digital one, is an excellent first step. As you build your game, log your design decisions and their potential technical implications from the start—it’s an essential step in maintaining clarity throughout your project. To make this process seamless, consider using our game development journaling tool to log your design decisions and their potential technical implications from the start—it’s an essential step in maintaining clarity throughout your project. You can explore how it helps you track game development progress and keep an organized game development log at our journaling tool.

By consistently recording your design decisions, including the rationale and potential impacts, you build a robust foundation for your project. This prevents communication breakdowns, reduces costly reworks, and ultimately leads to a smoother, more successful development cycle. It’s not about rigid adherence to templates, but about disciplined communication and foresight. Start documenting today, and your future self will thank you.