✦ primoh.coGame design course

Scope and production reality

Choose a version you can finish without losing the central promise.

Lesson 12 of 149 min + exercise

Every feature adds work and interactions that need attention. Scope is a design decision: choose a complete small experience that tests the promise, estimate its costs, and leave room for revision. A famous solo success is not a reliable schedule for a new developer.

Concepts

Prototype versus vertical slice
A prototype investigates a question. A vertical slice demonstrates a representative portion of the intended experience and production quality. You do not need full polish to answer an early rules question.
Cost multiplies
A new character may require animation, audio, UI, accessibility, balance, and testing against other characters. Count dependencies, not just the time to implement its first action.
Finishable scope
Write a clear beginning, activity, and stopping point. Open-ended games also need a usable complete release boundary. Cut features while checking that the central promise still holds.
Sustainable practice
Use short milestones, explicit assumptions, and contingency. Game jams can help practice constraints, but their durations vary and overwork is not a requirement.

In games

Vampire Survivors ↗

A limited set of direct controls can support many interactions. Distinguish input complexity from the work of building, balancing, and presenting the full system.

Stardew Valley ↗

A substantial game built by a small team or one person is an exceptional outcome, not evidence that the same scope is appropriate for a first project.

Common mistakes

  • Starting with networking, a large world, and a large roster before testing one encounter.
  • Calling a rough prototype a production estimate.
  • Treating every notebook idea as a requirement or every successful game as evidence of an easy path.

Cut to a complete small game

  1. Write all the features you want.
  2. Keep one central interaction, a small space, and a clear stopping condition.
  3. Estimate the visible and supporting work; reserve time for testing and access.
  4. Define what you will deliberately leave for a later project.

Done when: Another person could play a complete version within your stated time and tool constraints.

Notes save in this browser.

Check your understanding

Does a successful prototype establish that a whole game can be produced at the same speed?

Show answer

No. Production adds content, robustness, accessibility, presentation, and interactions. Use the prototype to identify risks before estimating a larger scope.

Sources

About the research →