level-design git:20260912.a22b95eA

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---
name: level-design
description: Space before art. Teach-test-twist beats, soft vs hard vs elective gates, readable density. Use for rooms, overworld pockets, dungeons, hubs. Ask the space column first.
---

# Level design

Ask the column:

| Column | Player chooses |
|---|---|
| open-air | over or around, destination from the eye |
| room-gate | which door after a new verb |
| hub-spoke | which spoke from a safe hub |
| linear-setpiece | only pacing inside one corridor |

## Rules

1. Space before set dressing.
2. One beat: see the tool, use it safe, use it under pressure, rest where the next target is visible.
3. Gates: soft (space/resource), hard (key/verb), elective wall (harder than the story path, skippable).
4. Density: about one readable decision every 30 seconds of travel. Adjust as data, not law.
5. Invisible walls are a last resort. If the player cannot go there yet, the space must look like it.
6. Pair with world-map for overworld and puzzle-design for rooms that exam verbs.

## Accept

- Without the map UI, the player can pick the next spatial target
- A rest point shows at least one next silhouette
- An elective wall is labeled by space or enemy rank, not by a quest warning