Pitch template requirements

Around once a week, everyone in World Lab assembles to pitch their project, and your polis must have representatives available to receive these pitches.

In order to ensure the pitches go well, here's a Polis pitch template.

Pitch day purpose

Since you'll need to significantly modify the template, it's important to understand its purpose. Pitch sessions aren't just about ensuring projects match your ethos—they also create accountability for the project's scope, systems, and execution processes.

Other important elements:

Creators must understand your ethos and publicly subscribe to it
Creators make actionable semi-deadlines creating built-in accountability
Creators list their vacancies allowing new prospects to join teams during pitch day.

Keep these important elements in mind when making changes.

You need to specify how long the team has to pitch but we recommend asking teams to keep under 7 minutes. See the blanks in the template.

The template given will relate specifically to Agora and you will need to modify it significantly to fit with your own Polis.

Template

Format

A slideshow made in Canva or Google Slides or a video watchable on Youtube. Avoid all other format types.
- Must contain minimal text per slide and use big headers and bullet points to make things readable.
  - Make fonts significantly larger to ensure they’re easily readable during screen shares.
  - If you’re not using AI to shorten your sentences, you’re wasting people’s time.
- You should focus on using images rather than words whenever possible.
- Test your slides with an outsider to ensure clarity.

Copyright

Feel free to use photos from around the web and/or AI to visually demonstrate what you want to create, as this is not the final product. At least two visuals per slide.

Demonstration

Your pitch will be presented in ______ minutes live on Discord as you share your screen to show off your slideshow
At least 3 team members should speak up during the pitch
You should avoid reading slides directly and simply highlight key points.

The slideshow

Slide 1:

Project name
Team name
Presenter name
Target Polis
Project type (app, game, social network, Discord bot, film etc.).

Slide 2:

The problem your project is seeking to solve and how it aligns with the purpose of the Polis. Keep it short and related deeply to the purpose of the Polis.

USP: Unique value proposition, a one-line sentence summarizing the core value that you provide.

Slide 3:

Any or all of these 3 (prioritize based on project type):

Gameplay loop & core challenge
- Visual diagram of the loop
- The core challenge must include the primary opposition and how players should use strategic decisions to overcome that opposition toward the goal
Core narrative
- Brief synopsis (setup, inciting incident, hint of climax/resolution) visualized
UI mockup of at least the app homepage
- Clear mockup/wireframe of the main screen/dashboard
- Identify key interactive elements visible.

Slide 4:

Any or all of these 3:

Core mechanics
- List 1-3 key mechanics.
- For each, briefly explain: How it works? Why is it engaging? How does it support the core loop/challenge?
- Visual representation (diagram, mockup) of at least one mechanic in action.
Key characters
- Introduce 1-3 central characters.
- For each: Core motivation? Primary conflict (internal/external)? Visual reference/concept art?
- How do these characters drive the core narrative or embody its themes?
Core features
- List 3-5 essential features.
- For each: What user need does it meet? How does it function simply?
- Prioritization: Which are MVP? Which are post-MVP?

You may break this up into multiple slides if needed.

Slide 5:

Any that are relevant:

Art style
- Primary style descriptor (e.g., Pixel art, Low-poly 3D, Flat design, Photorealistic).
- Visual mood board (3-5 reference images showing desired look & feel).
- Color palette.
- Key visual elements/motifs.
Audio style
- Primary style descriptor (e.g., Ambient electronic, Chiptune, Orchestral, Minimalist UI sounds).
- Audio mood board (Link 2-3 reference tracks/sound examples).
- Role of music vs. sound effects.
Game genre
- Primary genre & sub-genre (e.g., Puzzle platformer, Roguelike deck-builder, Social deduction).
- List 1-2 key game references/influences & explain why they are relevant.

Be hyperspecific and go into detail. You are free to break this into multiple slides if necessary for your project.

Slide 6:

How your project integrates with the Polis ethos.

Slide 7:

How your project avoids being the same as existing projects available for free online, or being created by other teams here—do your research.

Identify 1-2 specific existing projects (free online or within world lab) that are most similar.
Clearly state 2-3 key differentiators for your project. What makes it unique specifically within the Boundless/polis context?
Concise value proposition: What unique value or experience does your project offer to users that these alternatives do not?

Slide 8:

The tools you intend to use, see the standard World Lab tools here.

Choose all relevant to your project:

A project management suite
Video editor
Whiteboard
Game engine
AI tools
Graphic design tools
3D art tools
Animation tools
IDE
Analytics tools
Programming language
DAW
Middleware
Storage
Documents
Version control
Asset packs and their related licenses.

Slide 9:

A calendar highlighting each day between now and final submission based on the World Lab cycle. What your submission date is. It should show each demo day, who will present, when the project will be submitted, and key milestones—like when you'll lock the code to only fix bugs and stop adding features, allowing time to polish your code.

You should also choose 1 day per 2 weeks to do a retrospective (self-analysis), to see how you can improve your systems and processes.

Miro is a good tool for creating an interactive calendar.

Slide 10:

Your chosen daily meeting time.
Who will be showing up on what day of the week throughout the process and at what time, working out scheduling conflicts.
How much time you expect team members to spend per week with your team.

Slide 11:

Team structure (visual org chart is helpful but optional) and who will be in charge of what part of the project. E.g. Bob will have complete control over the art style, ensuring that the game's art is cohesive.
For each key role/area of responsibility, define: Owner? Key responsibilities? Decision-making authority?
Identify any current skill gaps within the team & specific volunteer roles you might be seeking.
Set up a buddy system and encourage peer accountability between team members, grouping them in groups of two and making them responsible for each other that they come to meetings, and get stuff done.

Slide 12:

A picture of at least 30 specific, actionable tasks laid out on a Kanban board (link to the live board required - Taiga, Jotform Boards, Miro, etc.) with a deadline set (or assigned to a sprint/milestone).

Slide 13:

Every Polis has content guidelines. You should list those content guidelines in this slide and state adjustments you made to ensure that your project stays within the content guidelines.

This is also the time to talk about how your project meets the general creation rules of World Lab.

Slide 14:

Explain how you'll bring your project to life.

Upload to Youtube
Distribute on Itch.io
Host on a server.

Keep in mind you only have the project timeline to actualize the project in such a way that others can benefit.

Slide 15:

This final slide is required to be kept in as is for every Polis.

This final slide slide should contain a written copy of the ethos of the Polis and World Lab, and you and all the team members signatures confirming they will keep to the ethos of the Polis in all their interactions within World Lab.

Include a statement like: "we have all made and make a public decision to uphold the spirit of PolisName in all our interactions here in World Lab."

Time

If your team just joined us and the pitch day is tomorrow, you may delay to the next pitch day to finish your pitch.