Begin with Simplicity

When beginning the process of writing a game design document, it is advisable not to include detailed descriptions immediately. It is more effective to develop the document iteratively; otherwise, you may end up investing effort unnecessarily. Consider, for example, the scenario in which you spend many hours meticulously describing a specific functionality of your game in the early stages of development, only to later decide to redesign that functionality. In such a case, much of the material you produced would be rendered obsolete and effectively discarded.

It is also important to avoid focusing excessively on the description of implementation details, particularly if those responsibilities fall under the purview of other team members who may require a degree of creative freedom in their respective design tasks.

However, there may be instances where developers find it difficult to fully grasp how the game is intended to function due to a lack of sufficiently detailed explanations. In such situations, they may request additional specifications. In these cases, it is advisable to allocate time to provide the necessary level of detail, as failing to do so may lead developers to interpret and implement the feature in their own way—potentially resulting in an outcome that significantly diverges from your original design intent.