balance-check

name	balance-check
description	Analyzes game balance data files, formulas, and configuration to identify outliers, broken progressions, degenerate strategies, and economy imbalances. Use after modifying any balance-related data or design. Use when user says 'balance report', 'check game balance', 'run a balance check'.
argument-hint	[system-name|path-to-data-file]
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Read, Glob, Grep, Write, AskUserQuestion
model	sonnet
agent	economy-designer

Phase 1: Identify Balance Domain

Determine the balance domain from $ARGUMENTS[0]:

• Combat → weapon/ability DPS, time-to-kill, damage type interactions
• Economy → resource faucets/sinks, acquisition rates, item pricing
• Progression → XP/power curves, dead zones, power spikes
• Loot → rarity distribution, pity timers, inventory pressure
• File path given → load that file directly and infer domain from content

If no argument, ask the user which system to check.

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Phase 2: Read Data Files

Read relevant files from assets/data/ and design/balance/ for the identified domain. Note every file read — they will appear in the Data Sources section of the report.

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Phase 3: Read Design Document

Read the GDD for the system from design/gdd/ to understand intended design targets, tuning knobs, and expected value ranges. This is the baseline for "correct" behaviour.

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Phase 4: Perform Analysis

Run domain-specific checks:

Combat balance:

• Calculate DPS for all weapons/abilities at each power tier
• Check time-to-kill at each tier
• Identify any options that dominate all others (strictly better)
• Check if defensive options can create unkillable states
• Verify damage type/resistance interactions are balanced

Economy balance:

• Map all resource faucets and sinks with flow rates
• Project resource accumulation over time
• Check for infinite resource loops
• Verify gold sinks scale with gold generation
• Check if any items are never worth purchasing

Progression balance:

• Plot the XP curve and power curve
• Check for dead zones (no meaningful progression for too long)
• Check for power spikes (sudden jumps in capability)
• Verify content gates align with expected player power
• Check if skip/grind strategies break intended pacing

Loot balance:

• Calculate expected time to acquire each rarity tier
• Check pity timer math
• Verify no loot is strictly useless at any stage
• Check inventory pressure vs acquisition rate

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Phase 5: Output the Analysis

## Balance Check: [System Name]

### Data Sources Analyzed
- [List of files read]

### Health Summary: [HEALTHY / CONCERNS / CRITICAL ISSUES]

### Outliers Detected
| Item/Value | Expected Range | Actual | Issue |
|-----------|---------------|--------|-------|

### Degenerate Strategies Found
- [Strategy description and why it is problematic]

### Progression Analysis
[Graph description or table showing progression curve health]

### Recommendations
| Priority | Issue | Suggested Fix | Impact |
|----------|-------|--------------|--------|

### Values That Need Attention
[Specific values with suggested adjustments and rationale]

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Phase 6: Fix & Verify Cycle

After presenting the report, use AskUserQuestion:

• Prompt: "Balance check complete. What would you like to do next?"
• Options:
  • [A] Fix highest-priority issue now — walk me through it
  • [B] Save report to design/balance/balance-check-[system]-[date].md
  • [C] Stop here — I'll review the findings manually

If [A]:

• Ask which issue to address first (refer to the Recommendations table by priority row)
• Guide the user to update the relevant data file in assets/data/ or formula in design/balance/
• After each fix, offer to re-run the relevant balance checks to verify no new outliers were introduced
• If the fix changes a tuning knob defined in a GDD or referenced by an ADR, remind the user:

  "This value is defined in a design document. Run /propagate-design-change [path] on the affected GDD to find downstream impacts before committing."

If [B]:

• Write the report to design/balance/balance-check-[system]-[date].md (create the directory if needed). Use the current date for [date] in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• Confirm the file was written, then end with: "Re-run /balance-check after fixes to verify."

If [C]:

• Summarize open issues and end with: "Re-run /balance-check after fixes to verify."