Use this skill when gameplay decisions feel flat, obvious, overwhelming, or random. Trigger on: 'choices don't matter', 'the game plays itself', 'analysis paralysis', 'players feel overwhelmed', 'combat feels random', 'players can't plan ahead', 'too much information on screen', 'nothing to think about between fights', 'turn pacing', or any request to audit decision quality, information design, or moment-to-moment engagement in a design or repo. Complements elegance-audit: that skill checks whether mechanics interact, this one checks whether the player can think interestingly about them.
Use this skill when a game or repo has too many mechanics, too much special-case code, or shallow gameplay despite lots of content. Trigger on: 'my game feels bloated', 'should I cut this mechanic', 'my codebase is full of special cases', 'players found an exploit/dominant strategy', 'balance review', 'the game is complicated but shallow', 'simplify my game', or any request to evaluate mechanics for interaction, emergence, or balance. Also trigger during feature-creep discussions and when auditing a repo where gameplay code has grown by accretion. Pairs with emotion-engine-audit: that skill asks whether a mechanic produces feeling, this one asks whether it earns its complexity.
Use this skill when designing, reviewing, or auditing a game (or a game repo) at the level of what the player feels. Trigger on: 'why is my game boring', 'is this feature worth building', 'what should this game feel like', 'review my game design', 'audit my game repo', 'my playtest feedback is flat', 'players quit early', or any request to evaluate whether mechanics, content, or code serve the player experience. Also trigger when a dev proposes a new feature and the value is unclear, or when a repo has grown features without a clear experiential goal. This is the foundation lens; run it before elegance-audit, skill-curve-audit, or decision-flow-audit when the problem is vague.
The orchestrator for the game design skill suite. Use this skill FIRST for any broad, multi-lens, or ambiguous game design request, and whenever the user extends scope mid-conversation. Trigger on: 'review my game', 'full design audit', 'audit my repo', 'why isn't my game fun', 'what's wrong with my game', 'design pass on everything', 'add in the multiplayer aspects too', 'now look at the rewards side', 'what about the story', 'run the other lenses', or any request that spans more than one design domain or names no specific domain. Also trigger when the user asks which design skill applies, or asks to continue a previous audit with more coverage. Routes to and sequences: emotion-engine-audit, elegance-audit, skill-curve-audit, game-narrative-tools, decision-flow-audit, reward-psychology-audit, game-interface-audit, game-feel-audit, multiplayer-dynamics-audit, playtest-protocol.
Use this skill when the moment-to-moment action of a game feels weak, floaty, unsatisfying, or lifeless, or when adding impact and juice to a working loop. Trigger on: 'my game feels flat', 'shooting/hitting feels weak', 'add juice', 'game feel', 'screenshake', 'hitstop', 'my combat has no impact', 'the core verb isn't satisfying', 'polish pass', 'feedback effects', 'camera feel', or any request to design or audit the feedback layer of an action game in a design or repo. Distinct from game-interface-audit (input latency and HUD clarity) and emotion-engine-audit (which feelings to target): this skill covers the physical punch of each action once those are settled.
Use this skill for game UI, HUD, controls, input feel, or player guidance problems. Trigger on: 'players don't understand my UI', 'HUD review', 'players miss important information', 'controls feel bad/floaty/unresponsive', 'input lag', 'players get lost', 'how do I guide players without arrows everywhere', 'tutorial popups everywhere', 'UI audit', or any request to audit interface code, input handling, or player guidance in a design or repo. Distinct from general frontend-design skills: this covers the game-specific layer of metaphor, signal versus noise, indirect control, and control feel.
Use this skill for any game storytelling problem: story structure, dialogue systems, environmental storytelling, procedural or AI-generated narrative, player agency, pacing, or setting. Trigger on: 'my story fights my gameplay', 'players skip the dialogue', 'design an emergent story system', 'LLM-driven narrative', 'players don't care about the plot', 'ludonarrative dissonance', 'branching dialogue review', 'worldbuilding for my game', or any request to design or audit narrative systems in a design doc or repo. Especially relevant for AI-narrated games where generated text must cohere with simulation state.
Use this skill for anything involving players interacting with players: PvP, co-op, matchmaking, competitive balance, griefing, or reading opponents. Trigger on: 'add multiplayer', 'PvP design', 'co-op review', 'players keep griefing', 'one strategy dominates ranked', 'matchmaking feels unfair', 'mind games', 'counter-play', 'stomps', 'kill stealing', 'team damage', or any request to design or audit systems where player behaviour affects other players' experience. Also trigger when a single-player game is adding multiplayer modes, or when auditing netcode-adjacent design like rank systems and lobbies. Pairs with elegance-audit for balance numbers; this skill covers the human-versus-human layer.