Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Game Overview
Start with the information you wrote for the synopsis. Get
to the point immediately, and don't include any questions in the overview. You
don't want readers guessing about anything regarding how the game is played.
Write the overview clearly and directly. Explain how the game is played and
what the goal is. Avoid the temptation to say something like, “Comedy ensues”
or “and then the action starts!” No one in the industry will take a doc seriously
if it's peppered with half-thought-out statements or innuendos.
The following is an example of an overview for the interactive hidden object
game (IHOG)
Elder & Jung: The Frobish Riddles
:
G
a m e
o
v e r v I e W
F r o m
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robish
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iddles
Shortly after the disappearance of his brother “Old Bill” Putty, Sgt. Emil
Putty was sent the bindings of a strange looking topic. What was par-
ticularly odd was that it looked liked the topic once held numerous pages
but now only the first remained. Furthermore, that single page seemed to
only contain nonsensical phrases. The topic was a mystery. But Sgt. Putty
was more concerned about the mystery of what happened to his brother.
After conventional investigations turned up absolutely nothing on Old Bill's
whereabouts, and everyone dismissed any connection the topic had with
his disappearance, Sgt. Putty was told about a most unconventional private
investigator: Garrick Elder of the Elder & Jung Investigation Agency. Mr.
Elder heads up the agency's Metaphysical Investigation department. This
sort of case is his bread and butter.
The game follows the team's search through the abandoned Frobish hospital,
where Sgt. Putty worked when it was still open, and where Old Bill was the
caretaker after it closed. The hospital was Bill's last known location and the
natural starting place for any investigation. And while Garrick doesn't always
start at the most likely location, this time it seemed worthwhile.
Players can access three possible locations at a time, playing rHOGs, regu-
lar HOGs, mini games, and inventory puzzles to figure out where to find
specific clues in each room. As more rooms are solved, a presence begins
to assert itself, appearing from time to time. What is revealed at the end of
the game is that the presence is the imprisoned spirit of Emil's twin brother,
Old Bill. Old Bill was torn from the physical plane by a Djinn one night at
the Frobish, and forced into service in an ethereal plane. Apparently Old
Bill liked to dabble in the occult, and accidentally called forth this being.
(Continues)
