Every game design resource I remember reading (more on that later) highlighted the importance creating of a design document. Plan everything out and answer as many questions as possible before you even start making it. It’s often described as a bible, the source of all truth when it comes to your game. It makes sense, but, to me at least, it becomes an insurmountable task in and of itself. How could you possibly answer every question? How could I even think of the questions that would need answering?
More recently I’ve seen things in the general product development space saying “just start”. Plan by doing, if you will. Which connects with the game design philosophy of “just make games”. Work out the mechanics, use paper or cards or whatever, but make a game in the most basic sense before you try to make a video game. I think the question “what is my game?” is a better place to start than “what is my game like?”, “how will I make it?” or “where will I start?”. And it helps me think of what will need to go into the design doc.
Ultimately I feel like I need to learn how to approach game design by making some games.