Questions to Ask Before Starting Your Game Project

Starting a game project is exciting, but jumping in without proper preparation leads to wasted time, budget overruns, and disappointed stakeholders. Before writing a single line of code, you need clear answers to some fundamental questions.

Here are the questions we ask every client before beginning development.

Defining Your Vision

These questions establish what you're actually building:

1. What is the core gameplay loop? Strip away all the features and describe the one thing players will do repeatedly. If you can't explain this simply, the concept needs more refinement.
2. Who is your target audience? Age range, gaming experience, platform preferences, and spending habits all influence design decisions. "Everyone" is not an acceptable answer.
3. What makes your game different? In a crowded market, what's your hook? This doesn't need to be revolutionary, but it must be clearly articulated.
4. What emotion do you want players to feel? Tension, relaxation, accomplishment, connection? This shapes everything from mechanics to audio design.

Scope and Resources

These questions determine whether your vision is achievable:

1. What is your budget? Be honest about the total amount available, including contingency for unexpected issues. Underestimating budget is the most common cause of failed projects.
2. What is your timeline? When do you need to launch, and why? External deadlines like seasonal events or funding milestones create hard constraints.
3. What resources do you have internally? Design documents, art assets, music, voice acting? Understanding existing assets helps scope the remaining work.
4. What is your minimum viable product? If budget or time runs short, what features are absolutely essential versus nice-to-have?

Technical Requirements

These questions inform architecture and platform decisions:

1. What platforms are you targeting? Mobile, PC, console, web, or multiple? Each platform has different requirements, certification processes, and development costs.
2. Do you have engine preferences? Unity, Unreal, Godot, or custom? Existing expertise or licensing constraints often dictate this choice.
3. What are your performance targets? Frame rate, load times, device specifications. Mobile games targeting older devices have very different constraints than PC titles.
4. Will the game require online features? Multiplayer, leaderboards, cloud saves, or live ops? Server infrastructure adds significant complexity and ongoing costs.

Business Model

These questions affect design decisions throughout development:

1. How will the game make money? Premium purchase, free-to-play with IAP, ads, subscription, or hybrid? The monetisation model must be decided early as it influences core design.
2. What is your user acquisition strategy? Organic growth, paid advertising, influencer marketing, or publisher support? Development should support your marketing approach.
3. What is your post-launch plan? One-time release, regular content updates, or live service? This dramatically affects architecture and team requirements.
4. What does success look like? Revenue targets, player counts, review scores, or something else? Define success metrics before launch so you can measure objectively.

Team and Process

These questions establish how you'll work together:

1. Who are the key decision makers? Too many stakeholders slow everything down. Identify who has final say on design, art, and technical decisions.
2. How do you prefer to communicate? Daily standups, weekly reports, or async updates? Establishing communication patterns early prevents friction later.
3. What is your approval process? How quickly can you review and approve deliverables? Slow approvals are a hidden cause of timeline slippage.
4. Have you worked with external developers before? First-time clients often underestimate their own time commitment. We can help set realistic expectations.

Risk Assessment

These questions identify potential problems before they occur:

1. What are your biggest concerns about this project? Often clients have instincts about where things might go wrong. Those instincts are usually worth exploring.
2. What would cause you to cancel the project? Understanding dealbreakers helps prioritise work and avoid investing in directions that could be rejected.
3. Are there any legal or licensing constraints? IP rights, music licensing, age ratings, or regional restrictions all need consideration upfront.
4. What happens if the game underperforms? Having a plan for different outcomes reduces panic if things don't go perfectly.

Documentation

These questions ensure everyone stays aligned:

1. Do you have a game design document? Even a rough one helps ensure everyone understands the vision. We can help develop this if needed.
2. Do you have reference material? Games, films, art, or music that capture the feel you're going for. Visual references communicate more than words.
3. Do you have brand guidelines? Logos, colours, typography, tone of voice. Consistency with existing brand identity matters for established companies.
4. How will decisions be documented? Email, shared documents, or project management tools? Decisions made in meetings but not recorded cause problems later.

The Value of Preparation

Taking time to answer these questions thoroughly before development begins pays dividends throughout the project:

1. Fewer surprises because expectations are aligned from the start.
2. Faster decisions because the framework for making them is already established.
3. Better outcomes because resources are focused on what actually matters.
4. Stronger relationships because trust is built through clear communication.

We're happy to work through these questions with you. A few hours of preparation can save months of misdirected effort and help ensure your game project succeeds.