Writing Pitch Docs and Exec Docs - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 23

Market Analysis
A pitch document may or may not contain a market analysis, depending upon the
pitch strategy of your studio. Larger projects almost always include a market analysis.
Building on the image depicted by your competition analysis, the market analysis
makes a case for why this game will be successful right now , citing the success of
similar titles and the absence in the market of a game fulfilling a particular player
desire.

Gameplay
Finally, in the gameplay section of your document, you'll get to talk about what
the player will actually do in your game. This section is sometimes called “Game
Mechanics� and, again depending on the size of the project, can be a brief summary
of game functionality or a bullet-point rundown of a series of activities the player will
engage in while playing. This section expands upon the core feature set outlined in
your executive summary and competition analysis to give concise details on what the
player will experience. In the full game design document, this section will take up a
majority of your page count, documenting the fine details of the game experience.
Although your game will evolve through the pitch process and in development,
this section should give a fast rundown of every game feature in single-line format.
For ease of communication, in a pitch document it's a good idea to lead with
a summary paragraph followed by a bullet-point list, with “feature phrases� in bold
that specify each game mechanic. For example, a partial gameplay summary for Te t r i s
might look like:

•

players manipulate six puzzle block types composed of four units;

•

players can rotate puzzle blocks in 90-degree increments, and speed up de-
scent;

• a preview window displays the next puzzle block to be dropped;

•

forming a contiguous horizontal line of block pieces causes that line to dis-
appear and score points to accrue;

•

bonus points are given for strategically solving four lines simultaneously ,
called “ tetris �;

• etc.

Note that a great deal of specificity is conveyed through the gameplay section
without using thick paragraphs or a lot of words. Your gameplay section should
provide a complete picture of major game activities.