Most disappointing first builds come from briefs that were long but not specific. Length signals ambition; specificity is what actually gets built. A brief that names six concrete decisions produces a more coherent game than one that lists twenty features, because every unnamed decision gets made for you — and it gets made in isolation from all the others.

The six decisions worth naming

1. 1

   Perspective and camera

   Top-down, side-on, first-person, third-person, isometric, fixed. This single choice constrains the level layout, the control scheme, and the art more than anything else in the brief.

2. 2

   What the player does moment to moment

   Not the genre — the verb. Running and dodging is a different game from aiming and holding position, even in the same genre.

3. 3

   Controls

   Keyboard and mouse, gamepad, or touch. Say which one the game is designed around; the others still work, but the mechanics get tuned for the one you name.

4. 4

   The objective

   What the player is trying to do, stated as a condition: survive three waves, reach the exit, hold the point for sixty seconds. Vague goals produce games with nothing to win.

5. 5

   The fail state

   How you lose, and how you find out you lost. Games without a fail state have no tension, and it is the most commonly omitted item in a first brief.

6. 6

   Visual direction

   Low-poly, pixel art, flat-shaded, neon, hand-drawn, monochrome. Two or three adjectives are enough, and they matter because they determine which assets get chosen.

Constraints do more work than features

A constraint is a sentence that removes options. It is the highest-value thing you can put in a brief, because it resolves dozens of small decisions at once without you having to name any of them.

• "The whole level fits on one screen" fixes the camera, the level size, and the pacing in eight words.
• "No text anywhere in the UI" forces readable icons and visual feedback.
• "One button, nothing else" is a complete design document for a certain kind of game.
• "Every run lasts under two minutes" sets difficulty curve, level length, and restart behaviour.

Describing a look

Describe qualities, not titles. "Muted colours, chunky low-poly shapes, soft shadows, one bright accent colour" gives a direction that can actually be built and that you own the result of. Naming a commercial game asks for something that cannot be reproduced and gives less usable direction than four adjectives would.

Before and after

Weak:
  A cool roguelike with lots of items and procedural levels
  and interesting enemies and a good progression system.

Strong:
  Top-down roguelike, one room at a time, fits on one screen.
  Player: moves in 8 directions, one melee swing, one dodge roll.
  Enemies: two types — one charges, one keeps distance.
  Objective: clear the room to open the door to the next one.
  Fail: three hits and the run ends, back to room one.
  Look: flat-shaded, high contrast, dark floors and bright enemies.

The second brief is not longer by much. It is buildable, because every line closes a decision instead of opening one.