Concept & Validation
Validate that your game idea has market potential and define a realistic scope before investing months or years of development time.
Pre-production, 2-8 weeks
Define what your game is at its core — the mechanics, the feeling, the audience.
Write a one-paragraph game concept
Effort: Low
Define your core gameplay loop
Effort: Low
Identify your target audience
Effort: Low
Write your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Effort: Medium
Create a mood board or reference collection
optional
Effort: Low
Verify that a market exists for your game before investing in production.
Research comparable games (comps)
Effort: Medium
Analyze comp review counts and revenue estimates
Effort: Medium
Identify market gaps and opportunities
Effort: Medium
Validate your price point
Effort: Low
Check genre viability on Steam
Effort: Low
Set realistic boundaries for what you can build with your available resources.
Define your Minimum Viable Game (MVG)
Effort: Medium
Apply MoSCoW prioritization
Effort: Medium
Set a realistic development timeline
Effort: Medium
Choose your target platforms
Effort: Low
Select your game engine
Effort: Low
Set up the basic technical infrastructure for development.
Set up version control (Git)
Effort: Low
Configure .gitignore for your engine
Effort: Low
Set up project tracking (issues/tasks)
Effort: Low
Establish a build pipeline
optional
Effort: Medium
Create a prototype or vertical slice
Effort: High