A tool from God Inspired Games
Before the Build
Before the Build is for Christian solo developers and small indie game teams that need to slow down before production grows.
You will define the intended player, connect the experience to the first-build features, and plan one test that can change what happens next.
Choose one audience instead of describing the game as being for everyone.
Keep only the features needed to test the core promise.
Decide what you need to learn and what the evidence could change.
This process does not guarantee that a game will sell, judge its theology, or replace playtesting. It helps you decide what to test before you build more.
Project Setup
Keep this short. The full game design document can stay somewhere else.
What does the player do, and why does it matter?
Intended Player
The goal is to get past broad labels and name someone specific enough to design and recruit for.
Avoid answers such as “everyone” or “all Christian gamers.”
Games, stories, themes, or experiences they already value.
What need, interest, or curiosity brings them in?
How much Christian language, symbolism, or background can the concept assume?
Intended Experience
Use actions and responses, not only words such as fun, meaningful, or Christian.
Think about rules, choices, goals, consequences, and relationships, not only dialogue.
Core Promise and Essential Features
Keep only the features needed to support the promise. Extra ideas are not deleted. They can wait.
Complete the thought: “For this player, the game will let them...”
Use one to three. Each feature should have a reason.
Write down good ideas that are not needed for this test.
First Uncertainty to Test
Choose the question before choosing the prototype, participant, or method.
Keep the question narrow enough that the next step can answer it.
Focused Test Plan
The artifact, participant, and task should all match what you need to learn.
Name the kind of adult participant who fits the question.
Time, number of people, and available materials.
Evidence and Decision
Write the decision rules before the session begins. A few comments can expose a problem, but they cannot prove a market.
Review and Edit
A completed box is not enough. The answers still have to support one another.
Concept Summary and Next Decision
This is not a readiness score. It is one concept, one test, and the rules for what happens next.
