gate-check

name	gate-check
description	Stage gate check — does the project meet criteria to advance to the next production phase (pre-prod → prod → polish → live)?

/gate-check — Stage Gate Review

Delegate to: producer (with technical-director, qa-lead, creative-director for respective areas)

Purpose

Stage gates force a deliberate decision about whether to move to the next production phase. Without gates, projects drift — always "almost ready" to start production, or "almost ready" to ship.

Stages

Pre-production → Production

Gate criteria:

• Master GDD exists and reviewed
• Creative pillars defined (3-5, 1 phrase each)
• Core loop defined (30s / 5min / session / meta)
• Target audience identified
• Monetization strategy drafted
• Target metrics set (retention, session, revenue if applicable)
• Tech stack decided (sync tool, UI framework, packages)
• Systems-index exists with priority
• 2-3 top systems have detailed GDDs
• Prototype or proof-of-concept validates core loop
• Team capacity matches estimated scope (or scope cut accordingly)

Production → Polish

Gate criteria:

• All core systems implemented (from systems-index P0/P1)
• Game is playable end-to-end (intro → core loop → meta)
• No S0 bugs open
• All planned features either done or explicitly cut
• Basic performance targets met (30 FPS mobile, server heartbeat < 33ms)
• Security audit has been run at least once
• DataStore schema is frozen (no more breaking changes)
• Analytics events implemented
• At least one external playtest (not just devs) completed

Polish → Live (Launch Ready)

Gate criteria:

• Zero S0 bugs
• Zero S1 bugs in critical paths
• Performance targets exceeded on target devices
• Security audit passed with no Critical findings
• Content policy review passed
• All launch marketing materials ready
• Community channels active
• Rollback plan tested
• Soft launch retention > target (D1 > 20%, ideally > 25%)
• Server costs projected and manageable
• Team ready for launch support

Live → Live Service Optimization

Gate criteria (do we continue investing?):

• Retention trending up or stable
• Revenue meets minimum threshold
• Community engaged (growing Discord, positive reviews)
• Technical debt manageable
• Team has capacity for sustained live-ops

Steps

1. Current Stage

Run /project-stage-detect if unclear. Get the current stage.

2. Target Stage

"What stage are you trying to advance to?"

3. Run the Checklist

For the target transition, go through each criterion:

• Verify each item
• Delegate to the relevant specialist for verification (e.g., security criteria → exploit-security-specialist)
• Record pass/fail/partial

4. Assess Readiness

• If ALL criteria met → Go
• If some criteria missed → No-go with blockers listed
• If close but not complete → "Go with caveats" (user decides risk tolerance)

5. Generate Gate Report

# Gate Check: [Current Stage] → [Target Stage]

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Reviewer**: [user]

## Current Status
[Summary of current state]

## Criteria
| Criterion | Status | Notes |
|-----------|--------|-------|
| Master GDD exists | ✅ | |
| Core loop defined | ⚠️ Partial | Meta loop undefined |
| Creative pillars | ✅ | |
| ... | ... | ... |

## Met
[List of passing criteria]

## Not Met / Blockers
1. [Blocker with specific remediation]
2. [Blocker with specific remediation]

## Recommendation
[ ] **PASS** — advance to next stage
[X] **HOLD** — address blockers first
[ ] **PASS WITH CAVEATS** — advance accepting documented risks

## Next Steps (if HOLD)
1. [Action item]
2. [Action item]

## Target Re-review Date
YYYY-MM-DD

Save to production/gates/gate-<stage>-<date>.md on approval.