I) Instructional Design

• Audience Analysis: An analysis of the learner's current skills and how those skills map to the instructional content
• Entry Behaviors: Identification of the learning objectives the player must have mastered prior to playing the game in order to be successful. Any skills or knowledge identified as an entry behavior will not be covered in the game. It is a pre-requisite for the game.
• Instructional Goals: Broad educational goals for the game.
• Instructional Objectives: Performance objectives for the game. It is very critical that instructional objectives are granular enough to allow for the diagnosing of instructional problems. At a minimum objectives should address (1) behavior to be measured, (2) conditions under which the behavior will be measured, and (3) a minimum level of achievement needed to master the objectives.
• Assessment Items: Assessment items for each of the learning objectives should be created. It is important that each assessment item only tests a single instructional objectives. In the case of an educational game the assessment items are often constructed as in-game activities that map to specific learning objectives.
• Presentation Strategy: With the audience analysis, learning objectives, and in-game learning assessments prepared, we can then concentrate on how to present the necessary instructional materials to the learner in a manner that will prepare them to successfully complete the assessments. In the case of most educational games, the presentation strategy will drive many of the gameplay decisions about the game. The game-mechanics and game narrative will reflect the presentation strategy.

II) Game Design

• Game Concept:
  • Game Description: This is a very broad description of the game.
  • Genre: What kind of game is it?
  • Platform: Will this run on a PC, console, PDA, phone, etc.?
• Game Mechanics:
  • Core Gameplay: What actions will be available to the player consistently and how will those actions influence the world?
  • Mode of play: How many different modes of play will be available in the game?
  • Game Flow: How will the player progress through the game be organized. Is the game broken into levels? What triggers the end of a level? How will in-game assessments be integrated into the flow of the game?
  • Types of Characters: How many different types of characters are there? How do they behave differently in the game?
  • Gameplay Elements: What environmental elements exists in the game that add to the game play? Will there be items that act as a power-up? etc. Are there different types of weapons?
• User Interface Functionality: What are the user interface items and what functionality is needed for each of the items. This includes screens and menus.
• Narrative: The back-story for the game and characters

III) Art

• User Interface: What do the screen elements and menus actually look like? This should include the color scheme, resolution, fonts, etc.
• Gameplay Elements: What do the game elements look like? This includes sketches of the characters and the setting for the game.
• Sound and Music: Identifies any needed music and sound effects

info taken from:http://www.e-games.tech.purdue.edu/DesignDoc.asp