Narrative Game Prototype Planner

Overview

Use this skill for story-heavy games where the hard part is turning intent, tone, text, and interaction rules into something playable and implementable. Keep the scope at design and prototype packaging; hand off to Cocos, Figma, imagegen, or document skills only when the user asks for engine code, design-file writes, final art, or polished documents.

Read references/narrative-prototype-workflow.md when the task involves multi-night/episode content, keyword marking, response cards, letter/chat drafts, scene checklists, local HTML/SVG prototypes, or comparing a design doc against the intended player experience.

Workflow

1. Establish the playable unit.
   • Identify the episode/night/chapter, the player goal, the input text, available choices, resources, and ending condition.
   • Separate theme and atmosphere from actual mechanics the player can use.
2. Critique before expanding.
   • Flag unclear player decisions, weak feedback loops, missing failure states, content safety gaps, and places where the theme is stated but not played.
   • Preserve the user's premise unless they ask for a larger redesign.
3. Convert design into testable artifacts.
   • For text mechanics, create keyword tables, scoring rules, response-card pools, generated draft examples, and outcome states.
   • For scenes, create function checklists with required elements, states, interactions, and feedback.
   • For local prototypes, prefer simple SVG/HTML/PNG packages that can be inspected or manually imported elsewhere.
4. Keep implementation boundaries clear.
   • Do not invent Cocos node bindings, Figma team permissions, or production art requirements.
   • Mark what is prototype-only versus what is ready for engine implementation.
   • When sensitive themes appear, include safety/help affordances and avoid manipulative or clinical claims.
5. End with verification.
   • Provide a short playtest path: what the user should click/read/choose, what should change, and what would prove the prototype is coherent.
   • List the exact files or tables created or updated.

Output Expectations

For a design critique, lead with the highest-impact risks and concrete fixes.

For playable text content, include:

• scene or episode goal
• source text the player reads
• markable keywords or signals
• response options or cards
• generated draft/output examples
• scoring or state changes
• success, partial success, and miss outcomes

For scene planning, include:

• function positioning
• required UI/visual elements
• states
• interactions
• feedback and accessibility/safety notes

For local prototype packages, include:

• file list
• which file is for preview
• which file is for import or handoff
• known limits of the prototype