Project Management Strategies for Game Development

In game development, great ideas are only the beginning, how those ideas are planned, organized, and executed often determines whether a project succeeds or stalls. That’s where project management comes in and without at it even the most creative concepts can fall apart, teams miss deadlines, budgets spiral out of control, or projects simply never get finished. That’s why project management is so important: it provides the structure needed to turn ideas into playable, polished games.

There are many approaches to managing projects, but two of the most widely used in game development are waterfall and agile. By learning how these approaches work, you’ll be better equipped to keep a project on track and avoid the pitfalls that often derail game development.

Waterfall Project Management

Considered the traditional approach to project management, waterfall is a linear, step-by-step method where each phase must be completed before moving on to the next. It’s often used in projects where requirements are well-defined from the start and changes are expected to be minimal. This method provides a clear structure, making it easier to plan timelines, budgets, and resources upfront, and it works well when predictability and documentation are important.

The phases (steps) in the waterfall process are:

1. Plan: create a project plan documenting all project requirements.
2. Research / Design: research what has come before, design new ideas to implement.
3. Implementation: put the plan into action or build on the design.
4. Testing: test the effectiveness of the design/plan.
5. Deploy/Maintain: finalize the project for submission, continue maintenance/updates as needed.

Waterfall project management has been around since the 1950’s and works well for projects that are short, simple and have clear and fixed requirements.

Using the waterfall method for a complex project may not always be the best approach, because all the testing is done when a project is near complete. Can you imagine creating an entire game and only afterward evaluate its effectiveness? This lack of flexibility and contentious testing could lead to a lot of wasted time and expenses.

Agile Project Management

In 2001 the Agile Manifesto for software development was created by a group of 17 technologists, as a replacement for the waterfall method.

Agile project management unlike waterfall, is an iterative process, which requires evaluation throughout the design and development.

The Agile approach allows for faster project development by breaking the project into smaller irritative processes. Essentially the agile approach takes individual requirements of the project and applies the waterfall process, after testing we review if the requirement. If it has then we begin to plan for the next requirement. If the requirement is not met then we go back to the planning and design phase until the requirement is met or revised.

To effectively implement an this approach, Agile relies on several key techniques that help teams stay organized, maintain momentum, and prioritize the most important work. The three major techniques in agile development include:

• Sprints: a set timeline (usually 2 to 4 weeks) to reach certain deliverables, each sprint is its iterative process
• Scrum Meetings: short daily meetings in which each team member shares, accomplishments, goals, and obstacles
• Prioritizing: creating a list of core features or tasks and placing them in order of importance to the project, ensure key elements of the project are complete first.

Project Management and the Scientific Method

Both waterfall and agile project management follow a structured process that mirrors the steps of the Scientific Method. Just as in science, you begin by defining a problem or goal, plan your approach, execute your work, observe the results, and adjust as necessary. In this way, project management is inherently iterative, even in a linear waterfall process, each phase builds on the last, and in agile, cycles of testing and feedback occur continuously to refine the project.

Understanding project management is key to turning ideas into playable games, even for small classroom projects. Agile keeps teams flexible and responsive to change, while waterfall provides structure and predictability. By applying the right approach and managing your project carefully, you can avoid common pitfalls, stay on schedule, make informed decisions, and ultimately turn creative ideas into successful games. These skills are essential not only in class but also in the game industry, where employers highly value developers who can plan, organize, and execute projects effectively.