| name | Vertical Slice |
| description | Build the smallest complete piece of the real game, so what is proved is the game rather than the pitch. |
| category | Production |
Vertical Slice
One part of the game, at shipping quality, running in the real build. The point
is that it cannot lie: a slice proves the game exists in a way no document or
trailer can.
When to use
- The studio needs to show the game to somebody who will decide something.
- A design is being argued about in the abstract and has been for a while.
Steps
- Pick the piece that is most likely to be wrong, not the one that is
easiest to finish. A slice built from the safe parts proves the safe parts.
- Take it to shipping quality. Art, audio, feel, and the failure states. A
slice with placeholder feedback is a prototype with a longer schedule.
- Use the real build. A bespoke demo scene proves the demo scene, and every
integration problem it avoids is one that arrives later at full price.
- Check
features.depends_on. Slices are where seams between systems
surface, which is most of their value.
- Play it with people who have not seen it, and record what they did on
playtests with the build named.
- Update
features.playable with what the slice actually shows, honestly —
this is the moment the feature list gets corrected.
Output
A playable slice in the real build, playtests rows from people outside the
studio, and a corrected feature list. Anything shown outside the studio is the
operator's call.
