DesignIdle game document
Game design document for an idle or clicker game: taps, upgrades, offline earnings, prestige and economy
Pricefrom $17
Strategy design documentFull Game Design
Payment protectionDetails
- Revisions within the package are free.
- If you do not respond within 3 days of delivery, the work is accepted automatically.
The money is reserved when you pay and released only once you accept the work.
Example result
Example for the Standard package
Game design document: a cosy puzzle game about running a plant shop
1. Concept
Little Greenhouse is a relaxing puzzle game for phones. The player matches seeds on a grid to grow plants, sells them in a small shop and slowly turns an empty greenhouse into a busy, beautiful one. Sessions last 3–5 minutes; there are no timers and no way to lose progress.
Audience: adults 25–45 who play in short breaks and like calm, tidy games.
2. Core loop
- Match: swap seeds on a 6 × 6 grid; three in a row sprout a plant.
- Grow: sprouted plants fill customer orders shown above the grid.
- Sell: finished orders give coins and stars.
- Decorate: stars unlock shelves, pots and new plant kinds, which add new seed types to the grid.
5. Levels (3 of 10)
| Level | Goal | New element | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grow 5 basil | Matching basics | 20 |
| 4 | Fill 2 orders of mint and basil | Orders with two plants | 22 |
| 9 | Clear 6 weeds, grow 8 ferns | Weeds that spread each turn | 26 |
8. Economy (main currencies)
| Currency | Earned by | Spent on |
|---|---|---|
| Coins | Orders, daily gift | Pots, shelves, extra moves |
| Stars | 1–3 per level | Unlocking new plant kinds |
Files: Word and PDF. It is a document, not a game: we make no art, sound or code. The economy numbers are a starting point for the studio's own tests.
Client: a two-person indie studio with a prototype of a match-and-grow puzzle for phones. Task: turn their notes into a document they can build from and show to a publisher. Standard package: up to 20 pages, 10 sections, 10 levels, 8 characters and 8 interface screens, with economy tables. Excerpt below.
The client and all details are made up.
About this service
In a strategy game everything is connected: resources pay for buildings, buildings unlock units, units decide who holds the map. This document sets that web out for you or your developer: the concept and setting, real-time or turn-based play, the core loop, resources, buildings and units with their roles and counters, the tech or upgrade tree, maps or missions with goals and starting conditions, and how computer opponents should behave. It also covers interface screens, progression and monetization ideas. Send your idea, the platform, the kind of strategy and games you like. You get Word and PDF files, from a concept in Basic to economy tables with production, costs and a progression curve in Premium. It is a document, not a game: no art, sound or code. Costs and stats are starting points to balance in playtests, and the design is your own.
What is included
- What you getA Word and PDF document: concept and setting, core loop, resources, buildings and units with roles and counters, tech tree, maps or missions, computer opponents, interface screens, progression and monetization ideas, as your package covers. From Standard, up to 8 units, up to 10 maps or missions and a table of resources and costs; in Premium, up to 15 units, up to 20 maps or missions, full economy tables with production, rewards and a progression curve and a plan for building the game in milestones.
- Resources and economyWhat is gathered, how fast and what it buys
- Units and countersEach unit's role, strengths and what beats it
- Tech treeWhat unlocks what and in which order
- Maps and missionsGoals, starting positions and how each one plays
- Computer opponentsHow rivals expand, attack and defend, in words
How it works
- 1IdeaYou describe the setting, the kind of strategy and the platform
- 2DocumentWe set out the economy, the units and the maps
- 3DeliveryYou get the document in Word and PDF on the order page
- 4ChangesYou read it and ask for changes within your package
What we need from you
Your idea in a few sentences, the setting (historical, fantasy, sci-fi or your own), real-time or turn-based, the scale (single battles, a city builder or a whole map to conquer), single player or multiplayer, the platform and controls, the audience, two or three strategy games you like and what you want to do differently, how the game should earn and any limits, such as one person building it or no online play. You may attach notes, sketches or an earlier draft as images, Word or PDF files, up to 3.
We will ask you:
- What is the setting and goal?
- Real-time or turn-based, and the platform
- Which strategy games do you like?
- Single player or multiplayer, and how should it earn?
- What is decided or ruled out?
Compare packages
| Packages | BasicStrategy concept, up to 8 pages$17 | StandardDesign document, up to 20 pages$34 | PremiumFull document, up to 35 pages$68 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | 2 days | 3 days | 5 days |
| Revisions | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pages | up to 8 | up to 20 | up to 35 |
| Sections | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Levels described | up to 3 | up to 10 | up to 20 |
| Characters or units | up to 3 | up to 8 | up to 15 |
| Interface screens | up to 4 | up to 8 | up to 15 |
| Economy tables | No | main currencies and prices | currencies, rewards, costs and progression curve |
| Genre | Strategy | Strategy | Strategy |
| Order Basic | Order Standard | Order Premium |
Payment protection
You pay when you order, but the money is released only for accepted work.
- Fixed priceThe package price does not change after you pay.
- The money is reservedWhen you pay, the amount is only reserved. It is released to the service once you accept the work.
- Checked before deliveryEvery result goes through a quality check before it reaches you, and you see it on the order page before accepting it.
- Free revisionsAsk for changes within your brief as many times as the package allows.
- Acceptance after 3 daysIf within 3 days of delivery you neither accept the work nor ask for changes, it is accepted automatically. If you write in the order chat after delivery, the order waits; once we answer, we may start the 3 days again and will say so in the chat.
- Redo or a full refundIf the result does not match your brief and the revisions did not fix it, or the work takes more than twice its deadline, write in the order chat: we will redo the work or refund the payment in full.
Questions and answers
Is the balance ready to ship?
No. Costs, stats and production rates are starting values with the reasoning behind them. Balance has to be tuned in playtests on the real build.
Do you write the behaviour of computer opponents as code?
No. We describe in words how opponents should expand, attack and defend, so your developer can build it. No code is included.
Can it be for multiplayer?
Yes. We describe matches, maps and fairness rules; servers, matchmaking and network code are for your developer to build.
Will you make the game?
No. It is a document: the economy, units, maps and the rest in words and tables. Art, sound and code are not included; you or your developer build the game from it.
Do the economy tables mean the game will earn?
No. The numbers and monetization ideas are a starting point to test with real players, not a forecast of income, and we don't copy another game's units, names or maps.
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