# Team One-Pager Guide

## What Is a One-Pager?

A **one-pager** is your team's game pitch in written form. It answers the essential questions about your game:
- Who are you? (team members & roles)
- What are you making? (game title, concept, mechanics)
- What will each person build? (your piece of the puzzle)
- How will you know it's done? (success criteria)

**Every team member submits their own copy.** This ensures everyone understands the project and their role in it.

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## What Goes On the One-Pager?

### 1. **Team Info**
- **Team Name**: Creative, memorable name for your studio/team
- **Team Members & Roles**: Who's on your team, and what's each person's primary role?
  - Creative Director (owns the design doc, keeps everyone aligned)
  - Art Lead (manages art style and shared assets)
  - Sound Lead (manages audio and music)
  - Marketing Lead (coordinates poster and trailer)
  - Developer (or multiple roles if your team is small)

### 2. **Game Concept**
- **Game Title**: What's the game called?
- **Track**: Which track is your game?
  - **Play**: Games (platformer, puzzle, arcade, adventure, escape room, etc.)
  - **Story**: Interactive fiction, visual novel, interactive comic
  - **Explore**: Quiz/trivia, interactive explainer, simulation, virtual tour, digital toy
- **Target Audience**: Who will play this? (e.g., "ages 10+", "anyone", "teachers", "fans of puzzle games")
- **Genre/Style**: What kind of experience? (e.g., fantasy adventure, comedy, educational, mystery, horror)
- **Game Idea**: A 3–4 sentence description of what the game is actually about and why someone would want to play it
  - ❌ Not: "A platformer"
  - ✅ Yes: "A platformer where you play as a robot escaping a collapsing space station, solving puzzles to unlock doors and avoid laser traps."

### 3. **Core Mechanics**
What does the player *do*? List 2–5 main actions:
- **Play track**: jump, collect coins, avoid enemies, solve puzzles
- **Story track**: make dialogue choices, interact with objects, read journal entries
- **Explore track**: click to learn, answer questions, explore freely, draw or create

### 4. **Your Piece of the Game**
**This is critical.** Describe what *you* will build:
- "I'm building Level 3: the forest with moving platforms and spike traps"
- "I'm writing Chapter 2 where the protagonist discovers the secret"
- "I'm building the quiz interface and scoring system"
- "I'm making the enemy AI and collision detection"

Each person builds their own playable piece. The one-pager clarifies who builds what so there's no overlap or confusion.

### 5. **Success Criteria**
How will you know your piece is done? What does "finished and polished" look like for your part?
- "The level is playable end-to-end, looks polished, and feels challenging but fair"
- "The chapter flows naturally, all dialogue is edited, and choices matter"
- "The quiz runs without bugs, scores are accurate, and the UI is clean"

### 6. **Art & Style**
Describe the visual look and mood of the game:
- "Pixel art, bright colors, blocky characters, cheerful vibe"
- "Minimalist line drawings, dark atmosphere, handwritten fonts"
- "3D models, realistic lighting, sci-fi aesthetic"

### 7. **Inspiration & References (Optional)**
What games or media inspired your idea? This helps teams explain their vision:
- "Inspired by Super Mario and Celeste"
- "Based on the novel Hunger Games"
- "Like Wordle but for history facts"

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## How to Submit

1. **Fill out the template** — one copy per team member
2. **Save as PDF** (File > Save as PDF in your browser) or take a screenshot
3. **Submit** to your teacher or to your team's shared folder
4. **Keep a copy** for your own records

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## Tips for Success

### 💡 Be Specific, Not Vague
- ❌ "A game about magic"
- ✅ "A game where you cast spells to solve ancient puzzles and escape a wizard's tower"

### 💡 Your Piece Should Be Clear
Everyone on the team should know exactly what everyone else is building. No overlaps, no confusion.
- ❌ "I'm building gameplay"
- ✅ "I'm building the main character's movement, jumping, and animation system"

### 💡 Success Should Be Measurable
You should be able to look at your finished piece and say "yes, we did that."
- ❌ "It should be fun"
- ✅ "Players can complete all 3 levels, collect all items, and reach the end without soft-locking"

### 💡 All Team Members Get the Same Game Info
Everyone fills in the same Team Info, Game Concept, Mechanics, Art Style. But your "Your Piece" section is *yours alone*.

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## Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. **Not filling in "Your Piece"** — Write it down so your team knows what you're building
2. **Being too vague on mechanics** — "Gameplay" isn't specific. "Platformer mechanics with wall-climb and double-jump" is
3. **Forgetting success criteria** — You need to know when your piece is actually done
4. **Copying someone else's piece** — Each person builds something different. Coordinate!
5. **Not doing your own submission** — Every team member fills one out

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## After You Submit

Your one-pager becomes your **contract** with your team:
- It locks in what you said you'd build
- It's your reference when you get stuck
- It helps your teacher know if you're on track
- It's proof of your planning before you code

**Keep it handy. You'll come back to it.**

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## Questions?

If you're not sure about something:
- Ask your teacher
- Ask your team
- Look at the examples of one-pagers from past projects (if available)

Good luck! 🚀