Tag: pitching

How to Pitch an Interactive Game and Design for Your Target Audience (Demographics)

Aven BrisailLeave a comment

A game pitch is a short, persuasive presentation of an idea for a game, given to people who could approve, fund, publish or join it. A good pitch shows who the game is for, which means understanding demographics: facts about a group of people such as their age group, location, language, interests and the devices they use. The group you design for is your target audience. Using critical thinking to match the design to that audience’s needs is how designers solve interactive design problems.

Unit 1 covered pitch documents and funding in How to Pitch and Fund an Animation or Game Project and short pitches in Synopsis and Elevator Pitch for Games and Animation. This lesson focuses on presenting an interactive idea and on designing for real players.

Understanding your target audience

Target audience

Your target audience is the specific group of people most likely to play and enjoy your game. “Everyone” is not a target audience. A clearer statement is: “Casual puzzle fans aged 25–45 who play in short breaks on their phones.” Designers often describe the audience with personas – imaginary but realistic players with a name, age, habits, goals and frustrations.

Age group

Age affects almost every design choice:

Age groupTypical needsDesign implications
Young children (3–7)Still learning to read; developing motor skills.Big buttons, voice instructions, no text-heavy menus, no failure punishments, no in-app purchases or chat.
Older children (8–12)Enjoy challenge and collecting; growing independence.Clear goals, rewards, safe social features, content suitable for ratings such as E or E10+.
Teenagers (13–17)Competition, identity, social play.Customisation, multiplayer, deeper systems; strong safety and moderation tools.
AdultsLimited time; wide range of tastes.Save anywhere, short sessions or deep campaigns, adjustable difficulty.
Older adultsMay prefer slower pace; possible vision or hearing changes.Larger text, high contrast, relaxed timing, familiar themes.

Location

Where players live affects language, cultural references, internet speed, the devices they own and how they pay. A game for a region with expensive mobile data should work offline and download quickly. A game for the Caribbean might use local music, dialect and settings that players recognise, while a game for a worldwide audience needs translation (localisation) and culturally neutral symbols.

Wall covered in colourful sticky notes arranged in groups during a brainstorming session
Figure 1 – Sticky notes on a wall during a brainstorm. Teams group ideas about players’ needs before choosing a concept to pitch. Image: Victor Grigas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Solving design problems with critical thinking

Critical thinking means questioning assumptions and choosing solutions based on evidence. A useful cycle is:

  1. Define the problem from the player’s point of view (“Seven-year-olds cannot read the level instructions”).
  2. Research the audience: observe, survey or interview real players.
  3. Generate options (voice-over, picture instructions, a playable tutorial).
  4. Evaluate each option against the audience’s needs, the budget and time.
  5. Prototype and test the best option; measure whether the problem is solved.

This short Young BAFTA video explains why game designers must think about their audience from the very start:

Presenting an idea for an interactive game

A strong interactive game pitch usually covers these points in 5–10 minutes:

  1. Hook and title: one sentence that makes people curious.
  2. High concept: genre, platform and the core idea (“a cooperative cooking puzzle game for phones”).
  3. Target audience: age group, location and persona; why they will love it.
  4. Core gameplay loop: what the player does again and again, and why it is fun. Show a storyboard, wireframe or short prototype – interaction is easier to show than to describe.
  5. Unique selling point: what makes it different from similar games.
  6. Look and sound: concept art, colour palette, mood music.
  7. Scope and team: what you can realistically build, how long it will take and who will do what.
  8. The ask: what you want from the audience (approval, feedback, funding, team members).

Communication skills for pitching

  • Speak clearly, make eye contact and rehearse until you can pitch without reading.
  • Use visuals: a few strong images beat slides full of text.
  • Tell a short story about a player enjoying the game.
  • Invite questions and answer honestly; if you do not know, say how you will find out.
  • Keep to time – it shows you respect your audience and can manage a project.
Room of young people working on laptops at tables during a game jam event
Figure 2 – Participants at a Global Game Jam event. Game jams end with teams presenting the games they made in just 48 hours – excellent pitching practice. Image: Yannickvernet, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Example

Here is a short pitch outline for Market Day Math:

  • Hook: “Can you run the busiest fruit stall in the market before the rain comes?”
  • Audience: children aged 8–11 in the Caribbean, playing on shared family phones or school tablets, often with limited data.
  • Design decisions from the audience: works offline; small download; spoken instructions; local fruits and currency; no ads or purchases.
  • Core loop: serve customers, add up prices, give change, earn coins to upgrade the stall.
  • Unique point: real mental-maths practice disguised as a busy, funny shop game.
  • Ask: “We would like your school to trial the prototype with two classes.”

Exercise

  1. Write a persona for the target audience of a game idea: name, age group, location, device, play habits, goals and one frustration.
  2. Describe three design decisions you would change if the same game were made for (a) five-year-olds and (b) adults.
  3. Identify one interactive design problem in a game or app you use, and solve it using the five-step critical thinking cycle.
  4. Prepare and deliver a three-minute pitch for your game idea using the eight-point structure. Ask your audience for feedback on clarity and confidence.

Next: Culture, Game Ratings, Intellectual Property and Monitoring Agencies in Game Design

Syllabus link: This post is relevant to the CAPE® Animation and Game Design Syllabus, Unit 2: Interactive Design and Game Development, Module 1: Introduction to Interactive Design – Specific Objective 14 (“present an idea for an interactive game”); Specific Objective 15 (“apply critical thinking to solve interactive design problems to meet customers’ needs”).

Attributions to media used in this post:

Stickies to brainstorm Edit.2014..jpg – Victor Grigas – CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Global Game Jam 2019 à Arles.jpg – Yannickvernet – CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.

How to Write a Synopsis and an Elevator Pitch for a Game or Animation

Aven BrisailLeave a comment

Before anyone agrees to fund, build or even read your project, they want to know one thing: what is it about? A synopsis is a short written summary of the whole story of an animation or game, from beginning to end, including the ending. An elevator pitch is a spoken summary short enough to deliver in a lift ride (about 30 to 60 seconds) that makes the listener want to hear more. Both grow from a logline: a single sentence that captures the heart of your idea.

In Story Development and Scriptwriting we turned an idea into a premise. In this post you will turn a premise into a synopsis and a pitch you can use with teachers, teammates, funders and publishers.

Logline, elevator pitch, synopsis and treatment: what is the difference?

ToolTypical lengthWhat it is for
Logline1 sentence (about 25–40 words)The hook. Who the main character is, what they want and what stands in the way.
Elevator pitch30–60 seconds spoken (about 75–150 words)Getting a busy person interested enough to ask for more.
SynopsisHalf a page to one page (about 150–500 words for a short project)Showing the complete story, including the ending, so readers can judge whether it works.
TreatmentSeveral pagesA detailed, scene-by-scene prose version of the story, written before the script.

What goes into a synopsis

  • Title, format and genre – for example “a five-minute 3D comedy short” or “a 2D puzzle-platformer for mobile”.
  • The protagonist and their goal – who we follow and what they want.
  • The setting – where and when the story happens.
  • The conflict – the problem, obstacle or antagonist that makes the goal hard to reach.
  • The key turning points – the big events that change the direction of the story.
  • The ending – a synopsis is not a teaser. Say how the story is resolved.
  • Tone and theme – is it funny, spooky or heartwarming, and what is it really about?

Animation synopsis vs game synopsis

An animation synopsis describes one fixed sequence of events. A game synopsis must also explain the player’s role and how the story is experienced through play: what the player does most of the time (the core gameplay), how the story unfolds across levels or chapters, and whether choices lead to different endings. Game synopses often add the genre, platform and target audience (see Types of Video Games: Game Genres, Game Goals and Game Platforms).

How to write a synopsis, step by step

  1. Write your logline first. If you cannot say it in one sentence, the idea is not clear yet.
  2. List the big story beats: the beginning (the normal world and the problem), the middle (attempts, setbacks and a turning point) and the end (the climax and resolution).
  3. Turn the beats into paragraphs written in the present tense and the third person (“Maya finds a map…”, not “I found a map…”).
  4. Name only the most important characters and cut the sub-plots.
  5. Show cause and effect: each event should lead to the next.
  6. Read it aloud, cut unnecessary words and ask someone who does not know the story whether it makes sense.
Poster for the animated short film Big Buck Bunny showing a large white rabbit and three rodents
Figure 1 – The poster for Big Buck Bunny (2008), a free, open-licensed short film made by the Blender Foundation. Its synopsis is used as an example below.

The elevator pitch

A pitch is a performance, not a document. A simple formula for a game or animation pitch is:

  1. Hook – an opening line that sparks curiosity.
  2. Who and what – the main character (or the player’s role) and their goal.
  3. Obstacle – what stands in the way and why it matters.
  4. What makes it special – the unique twist, art style, mechanic or cultural setting.
  5. The ask – what you want from the listener: feedback, a meeting, funding or a place in a competition.

Keep it conversational, practise it until you do not need notes, and adapt it to your audience. A teacher, a publisher and a funding agency care about different things. For more on e-portfolios, proposals and funding, see How to Pitch and Fund an Animation or Game Project.

Example

Logline (animation): A gentle giant rabbit, bullied by three mischievous rodents, sets aside his peaceful nature to teach them a lesson they will never forget.

Synopsis (animation): Big Buck Bunny is a ten-minute 3D comedy short. On a sunny morning, Big Buck Bunny, a huge and kind-hearted rabbit, steps out of his burrow to enjoy the forest and admire the butterflies. Three bullies, Frank the flying squirrel and his sidekicks Rinky and Gimera, amuse themselves by pelting forest creatures with fruit, nuts and rocks. When they knock two butterflies out of the sky and then attack Bunny himself, the rabbit decides enough is enough. He builds a series of clever traps and deals with Rinky and Gimera one at a time. Frank, unaware, glides towards Bunny and sets off the final trap. In the end, a satisfied Bunny watches a butterfly fly past towing Frank on a string like a kite. The film is about standing up to bullies, told through slapstick comedy with no dialogue.

Big white cartoon rabbit standing in a sunny forest
Figure 2 – Big Buck Bunny in the forest. A good synopsis tells the reader who the story is about, what goes wrong and how it ends.

Elevator pitch (game): “Every year, thousands of baby leatherback turtles hatch on Grande Riviere beach in Trinidad, and only a tiny fraction survive to become adults. Hatchling Dash is a colourful mobile arcade game for ages six and up where you guide one tiny turtle from its nest to the ocean, dodging crabs, seabirds and plastic litter, then swim through three reef levels to reach the feeding grounds. Each level teaches a real fact about turtle conservation, and players can unlock a clean-up mode where they remove litter to help future hatchlings. We are looking for feedback on our first playable level. Can I show you?”

Watch this short TED video to learn how to build a pitch around your audience:

Exercise

  1. Write a logline for a film, cartoon or game you know well. Check that it names the main character, the goal and the obstacle.
  2. Create a synopsis (150–300 words) for an original animation based on a culturally relevant theme from your community, such as a festival, a folk tale or an environmental issue.
  3. Rewrite your idea as a game synopsis. Add the player’s role, the core gameplay, the number of levels or chapters and how the story ends.
  4. Turn one of your synopses into a 45-second elevator pitch using the five-step formula. Record yourself on a phone and time it.
  5. Swap pitches with a partner. Give each other one strength and one improvement, then revise.

Next: Story Arcs Explained: Five-Point, Eight-Point and Three-Act Structures for Games and Animation

Syllabus link: This post is relevant to the CAPE® Animation and Game Design Syllabus, Unit 1: Fundamentals of Animation and Game Design, Module 3: Story and Character Development – Specific Objective 1 (“create a synopsis for a game or animation”).

Attributions to media used in this post:

Big buck bunny poster big.jpg – Blender Foundation (peach.blender.org) – CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Big Buck Bunny – forest.jpg – Blender Foundation / Project Peach – CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.

How to Pitch and Fund an Animation or Game Project: E-Portfolios, Proposals and Funding

Aven Brisail1 Comment

A great idea for an animation or game is only the start. To turn it into a real project you usually need to show your skills, pitch your idea, write a project proposal and find funding. This post walks you through each step.

E-portfolios: showing what you can do

An e-portfolio (electronic portfolio or online portfolio) is a collection of your work that you keep online. It can include images, animations, game builds, videos, sketches, blog posts and links. There are three main types:

  • Developmental (working) portfolio – shows how your skills improve over time.
  • Assessment portfolio – shows your skill in a particular area, for example for a course or exam.
  • Showcase portfolio – shows only your best work, usually for employers or clients.

Tips for a good e-portfolio

  • Put your best and most relevant work first.
  • Add a short description for each piece: what it is, the tools you used and your role (especially for team projects).
  • Show your process too, for example sketches, storyboards and early prototypes.
  • Keep it up to date and easy to navigate. Include your contact details.
  • Only include work you have the right to share (see our post on ethics and copyright).

Pitching your idea

A pitch is a short, persuasive presentation of your idea to people who might fund, publish or approve it. For an animation, a pitch focuses on the main characters, the conflict and the genre. For a game, it also explains the gameplay and what makes it special. Pitches can be very short (an “elevator pitch” lasting a minute or two) or longer presentations.

Speaker giving a presentation with slides
Figure 1 – A speaker presenting with visual aids. Good slides and clear delivery support a strong pitch.

Structure of a pitch

  1. Beginning – open with a hook to grab attention. Common hooks include an interesting statistic, a quote, a question or a short story. (Always use real, checked facts.)
  2. Middle – explain the idea: story, characters, gameplay, target audience and why it will succeed.
  3. End – say clearly what you are asking for (funding, approval, a partner) and finish with a memorable line.

Effective written and oral communication

  • Know your audience – choose your diction (choice of words) to suit them. Investors may want business details. A class may need simpler language.
  • Know your purpose – are you trying to inform, persuade, instruct or entertain?
  • Use correct grammar and clear sentences, especially in written proposals.
  • Tone and pitch of voice – speak clearly, vary your voice and sound confident.
  • Body language and movement – stand tall, make eye contact and avoid distracting habits.
  • Visual aids – use multimedia such as concept art, a short animated clip or a playable demo.
  • Equipment and room check – test the projector, sound and files before you start.
  • Edit – rehearse, time yourself and cut anything that does not help your message.

Writing a project proposal

A project proposal is a document that explains your plan and tries to convince the reader to approve or support it. A proposal commonly has five parts:

  1. Introduction – what the project is.
  2. Background – why it is needed and who it is for.
  3. Strategy – how you will make it: the team, tools and schedule (key milestones and deadlines).
  4. Budgeting or financing – what it will cost and where the money will come from.
  5. Outcome – what will be delivered and how success will be measured.

Preparing a good proposal needs research, time management and clear communication. If people will be hired, contracts should set out who does what, when, for how much, and who owns the finished work.

Our video brief post shows a similar planning document for video: The Video Brief – Professional Video Creation (Part 2).

Funding your project

Glass jar used as a savings bank with coins and notes
Figure 2 – Every project needs a realistic budget and a plan for where the money will come from.

There are two main types of funding:

  • Loans – money that must be paid back, usually with interest.
  • Grants – money given for a specific purpose that usually does not have to be paid back, but often comes with conditions and reporting.

Common sources of funding include:

SourceHow it worksThings to consider
CrowdfundingMany members of the public each give a small amount, often through a website, usually in return for rewards or early access.Needs a strong pitch and marketing. Rewards must be delivered.
Angel investorsWealthy individuals invest their own money in early-stage projects or businesses.Usually want a share of the business or profits.
Venture capitalistsFirms that invest larger amounts in businesses they believe can grow quickly.Expect high growth and may want a say in decisions.
Investors (general)People or companies who provide money in return for a share of future profits.Agree clearly on what they get in return.
Lending institutionsBanks and credit unions provide loans.Must be repaid with interest. May need security or a business plan.

Evaluating funding options

When comparing options, ask: How much money do we need? Do we have to pay it back? How much ownership or control do we give away? What are the deadlines and conditions? What happens if the project is late or fails? A realistic budget and schedule make these questions much easier to answer.

Video

Extra Credits gives practical advice on shaping a game idea, including writing a short elevator pitch and identifying your unique selling point.

Exercise

  1. Create a simple e-portfolio page (for example using a free website builder) with at least three pieces of your work and a short description of each.
  2. Write a one-minute elevator pitch for an original game or animated short. Start with a hook.
  3. Draft a one-page project proposal using the five parts above.
  4. Compare crowdfunding and a bank loan for a small indie game. Which would you choose, and why?

Next: The 12 Principles of Animation – Plus Software, Programming Languages and Basic Sound Editing

Syllabus link: This post is relevant to the CAPE® Animation and Game Design Syllabus, Unit 1: Fundamentals of Animation and Game Design, Module 1: Understanding Animation and Game Design – Specific Objective 12 (“demonstrate the use of e-portfolios and use of pitching”); Specific Objective 13 (“identify project funding opportunities for animation and game design”); Specific Objective 14 (“evaluate project funding opportunities available for animation and game design”); Specific Objective 15 (“present project proposals”).

Attributions to media used in this post:

Snjezana Kordic keynote presentation Hokkaido University.jpg – Mozel W. – CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Piggy-bank-968302.jpg – stevepb – CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.