Preflight: The Game Dev Checklist

Preflight is a game dev checklist built like a pilot's: nine laminated-style cards, one per phase, from the first idea to the month after launch. Each line pairs a challenge with the state it must be in, and the red lines are NO-GO: the phase isn't done until they pass.

Every one of the 123 boxes is clickable in Acrobat, Preview, Edge, Chrome and most PDF readers. Tick them on screen and save the file, or print the cards and keep them by the desk.

The nine cards

• A · Concept: pitch, comparable games, scope at your real hours, kill criteria.
• B · Prototype: core loop with grey boxes, riskiest tech first, silent playtests.
• C · Pre-production: cut list, vertical slice, version control, save format.
• D · Production: weekly, monthly and milestone rituals that stop the drift.
• E · Store page: capsule, trailer, tags and the Steam Direct fee.
• F · Marketing runway: a countdown from six months out to launch week.
• G · Build and QA: the release-candidate tests behind most day-one complaints.
• H · Legal and business: tax forms, asset licences, music for streamers, AI disclosure.
• I · Launch and first 30 days: hotfix branch, first patch, roadmap, rest.

Each card ends with a field note: one hard-won tip for that phase. The last page is a debrief template for the month after launch.

Details

• 12-page A4 PDF in English with 123 clickable checkboxes.
• Engine and genre agnostic. Steam and itch.io steps included.
• Written and illustrated with AI assistance, then fact-checked against the sources named in the book. All images are original renders, original pixel art or CC0 material: no screenshots of commercial games.