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The High Concept Document

Ernest W. Adams A high concept document is primarily a sales tool, although you can write one for yourself as well, just as a way of keeping a record of ideas youve had. Think of it as a rsum for a video game. The point of a rsum is to quickly convey a job applicants qualifications and try to get him an interview with the hiring manager. The point of a high concept document is to try to get a meeting with a producer, the chance to pitch the game. It should communicate rapidly and clearly the idea of the gameto whet her appetite and make her want to hear more about it. It doesnt matter that you havent thought through all the details. Youll almost certainly end up changing several of the features during development anyway. The real point is to convey how much fun the game is going to be. A high concept document should be two to four pages long and should take no more than 10 minutes to read. The longer it is, the less likely it is that the producer will finish reading it. It shouldnt have a title page; the title and your name appear at the top of the first page, and the text begins immediately. Its most important material must appear on the first page. In the sections that follow, we describe the key elements of a high concept document.

High Concept Statement

After the title and your name, the document should begin with no more than two lines that state the idea of the game. In a commercial environment, it is imperative that the idea be instantly comprehensible because everyones most precious commodity is time. If the producer doesnt get the idea in a sentence or two, hes going to worry that the publishers sales staff, the wholesale buyers, and, most important, the retail customers wont get it either. Of course, there are exceptions to this, and those exceptions are often some of the greatest and most innovative games. In Pac-Man, for example, the player is a circle that eats dots and fruit and is chased by ghosts in a mazenot exactly an obvious idea. However, Pac-Man is an arcade game, which means that people can actually watch it playing by itself before they commit their money. If youre going to propose something really strange for a retail game, you need to be very good at explaining it!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. You may redistribute and modify it freely, including for commercial use, so long as you provide attribution to Ernest W. Adams as the author of the original template.

Features
The rest of the first page should be devoted to a bulleted list of the key features of the game. Each item should consist of two or three sentences, no more. Remember that unless you have included a concept drawing, your reader doesnt have a mental picture of the game, so this section needs to build one for him. Its much more important at this point to convey the games look and feel than to give the details about how it works. Youre not selling the games internal economy or its AI; youre selling the players experience. Avoid letting the feature list run on to the next page, if you can. More than about 10 bullet points in a row starts to look like a mass of text to read and discourages the eye. You might want to put the items that you think are the most fun, the most innovative, or the most important in bold type, just as you would in a rsum.

Overview
In this section, beginning on the second page, you summarize the key commercial considerations about the game: what machine its for, who would buy it and why, and what youre hoping that the game will achieve. Consider including any or all the following items: Player motivation. This is a short statement that indicates what the player is trying to accomplish in the gamehis role and goal. This helps indicate what sort of person the player is. He can be driven by a desire to compete, to solve puzzles, to explore, or whatever. Genre. Indicate the genre of the game, or if it is a mix of genres, indicate that. License. If you intend for the game to exploit a licensed property, say so here. Also include any facts and figures about the propertys popularity, recognition value, and appeal to particular marketsbut no more than a sentence or two. Target customer. What kind of person will buy this game? If age or sex is relevant, indicate that; more important, tell what other kinds of games they like to play. Competition. Are there already games on the market like this one? If so, list their names and indicate how this one is different or better than they are. This section isnt absolutely necessary, but it can reassure your reader that your game isnt just a copy of something else. Unique selling points. Whats new in this game? How will it stand out from what has gone before? Target hardware. Tell what machine the game is intended for. Also indicate whether the game requires or can make optional use of any special hardware or accessories. 2

Design goals. In this section, list your aims for the game as an experience. Dont just say funthats too broad. Be more specific. Are you trying to provide pulse-pounding excitement? Tension and suspense? Strategic challenge? Humor? A heartwarming story? The ability to construct or create something of the players own? For each item, indicate in a sentence or two how the game will achieve the goal.

Further Details
In the last section, you can include additional material that you think the reader will enjoy learning about the game. You might include notes about the characters, the artwork, the music, the plot, or anything else that might pique his interest. Dont add so much that it makes the document too long, however.

A Sample High Concept Document

The following is an old high concept document for a simple console or arcade game. It was written before the currently popular extreme sports games existed, so although this game was never made, some of its ideas did find their way into other games.

Street Football2 on 2!
Ernest W. Adams

High Concept
The game at its grittiest. No pads, no helmets, no refs, no field. Its just you and the guys, a ball, and a lot of asphalt. Choose up sides and go for it, two on two.

Features
The point of view is derived from fighting games, with large, detailed players. You choose teams just like in real sandlot football, taking turns picking players from the neighborhood crowd. Each person has a different look, attributes, and set of skills. Not all the kids are available all the time. The field is an urban alley about 50 yards long. Sidewalks are out of bounds. Garbage cans, potholes, and junked cars create additional obstacles. Tin cans mark the yard lines. As in a fighting game, its the personal interactions that count. Dodging, ducking, faking, jumping, diving, and tackling are all essential parts of the game. Certain players have special moves or abilities.

Five pass plays, five running plays, and the field goal make up the whole playbook. Field goals and extra points are kicked through two guys holding their arms out and up like goalposts. Health meters show the players level of injury and fatigue. If you lose a player, you can pick another one, but you forfeit two touchdowns. Rules are adapted for street football: You have four downs to get into your opponents territory, and four more downs to score. Otherwise, you turn over the ballno punting. No penalties except offsides, but expect a fistfight if it gets too rough. Lots of comedy touches: ball breaks a windowplayer flies into garbage canplayer slips and skids on oil slickvan drives down alley and flattens footballlittle kid rides tricycle across the fieldrival gangs appear and tag buildings, and then disappearnerdy bystander gets called home to supper.

Player Motivation
Players pick teams and try to win a 20-minute game of street football. In tournament mode, two-player teams made up of all available players compete for the championship.

Genre
Sports arcade action with strong fighting-game overtones.

Target Customer
Sports arcade players looking for something new.

Competition
None

Unique Selling Points

Fighting moves in a sports game Fighter-type personalities in a sports game Comedy in a sports game Team selection process

Target Hardware
Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo

Design Goals
Simple: Very simple play-calling combined with fighting-game controls makes this an easy game to learn and play. Hot: Fast, arcade-style action. No timeouts, no players running on and off the field, no stats or halftime summaries: just raw football. Deep: Because teams are made up of pairs of different individuals, lots of possible teams are available. It takes a while to find the best pairings, not to mention playing your way to the top of the championship tree.

Characters
Each of the characters has certain attributes that define how well he or she plays, and each player also has a relationship with the others in the group. Characters who are not playing can be seen watching from the sidelines, and the observant player will notice things going on that give hints about them. Here are a few possible characters: Joey: All-American guy, a natural quarterback. Great passing accuracy, good scrambling, good pass distance, very good speed. Not a great receiver or blocker. Good stamina. Butch: The bruiser on the block. Big and strong, hard to tackle, but slow. Great pass distance, but poor accuracy. A fair receiver. Excellent stamina. A loner, he usually stands by himselfhes not especially good with any other player. Dana: Shes lithe and agile, a good scrambler, and the fastest runner of the bunch. A good receiver and a fairly accurate passer, but her range is short. Fair stamina. Dana is Joeys girlfriend and stands with her arm around him, so they make a good team. etc.