game-planning git:20260913.dd45fc1A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/81e34143ed1c62d3.

---
name: game-planning
description: Use when defining a game's smallest playable slice, limiting feature scope or deciding whether a proposed loop has a meaningful player outcome.
---

# Game planning

Record existing genre, target device, input roles and selected modes before expansion. Keep at most three pillars. Budget verbs and decisions before content volume. Do not add combat or locomotion merely to satisfy an action-game template.

## Slice contract

The player understands the goal, completes one **core challenge or decision**, perceives its consequence, and knows what to do next. Combat is one possible loop; noncombat games are equally valid.

| Loop | Core challenge | Observable consequence |
|---|---|---|
| combat | win or survive an encounter | outcome and next opportunity |
| puzzle | solve with taught properties | changed room or new possibility |
| building/simulation | build or allocate a limited resource | visible system response |
| narrative | make an informed choice | acknowledged consequence or branch |
| rhythm/racing | finish a passage or lap | timing/line feedback and retry |

First stabilize input and feedback relevant to this loop. Camera/locomotion matter only where used. A text-heavy or menu-driven game can itself be the playable slice; a mock menu without the core decisions cannot stand in for it.

## Output and acceptance

Write a slice card: pillars, core challenge, constraints, target/input, scope exclusions, modes, start/end conditions, failure/retry or an explicit no-failure policy, evidence needed and the next milestone. Reuse project facts; ask only for a consequential missing choice.

Validate the natural start-to-outcome chain with [gameplay-validation](../gameplay-validation/SKILL.md). Mark debug setup, automated drivers and untested segments. Expansion follows demonstrated slice goals, not a claim that every genre must contain a fight or item reward.