Overview
Game Design loads a conviction into your agent: a game is a machine that generates interesting decisions wrapped in feedback that feels good — and when it's boring, the loop is broken somewhere specific, not lacking features. The core file carries fifteen non-negotiables and two decision frameworks (is this mechanic worth adding, and the boring/too-hard triage); six reference files go deep on core loops and session shapes, mechanics and depth-versus-complexity, balance and economies, difficulty curves and progression, onboarding that teaches through play, game feel and the juice catalog, and playtesting with scope discipline. Engine-agnostic: it pairs with web-games and threejs for implementation.
What it grants
- 01The find-the-fun gate: core verb polished naked before any meta — meta amplifies fun, never creates it
- 02Loop-layer analysis: moment, encounter, session, meta — and which one is actually broken when players say 'boring'
- 03Meaningful-choice anatomy: trade-offs, degenerate forms (calculations, blind picks, false choices), depth over complexity
- 04Economy architecture: sources, sinks, curves, inflation control, pity timers, input-vs-output randomness
- 05Difficulty as legibility first: telegraph audits, retry-loop length, teach-test-twist-rest rhythm
- 06Onboarding doctrine: players don't read — the teaching-tool hierarchy from level design down to popups
- 07The juice catalog as information theory: hitstop, screenshake, squash-and-stretch — proportional, accessible, budgeted
- 08Playtest protocol: silent observation, behavior over opinions, the two-strike rule for killing darlings
- 09Scope as a design skill: vertical slices, cut order, the game-jam scope masterclass
Try it like this
agent> Diagnose my game the game-design way — find which loop layer is broken, audit the choices for trade-offs, and tell me what to cut.