Balance Review Tool

Systematic analysis of game balance across difficulty, stats, and economy.

Arguments

• target (optional): Path to design document to review
  • Default: docs/design/game-design.md
  • Can specify any design document

Process

1. Gather information:

   • Read existing design documents
   • Ask about intended difficulty level
   • Identify core systems to balance

2. Difficulty curve analysis:

   • What's the intended curve?
   • Where are the peaks (bosses, challenges)?
   • Where are the rest points?
   • Are difficulty settings planned?

3. Stat scaling review:

   • Player power progression
   • Enemy scaling
   • Damage formulas
   • Health pools

4. Build viability check:

   • What builds/strategies are intended?
   • Are all builds completable?
   • Are there trap options?
   • Is there a dominant strategy?

5. Economy analysis:

   • Resource generation rates
   • Spending requirements
   • Inflation/deflation risks
   • Scarcity levels

6. Identify red flags:

   • One-shot potential
   • Required grinding
   • Unused mechanics
   • Obvious imbalances

Output

Console output with:

═══════════════════════════════════════════
BALANCE REVIEW: [Game Name]
═══════════════════════════════════════════

DIFFICULTY CURVE
[Analysis and diagram]

STATUS: [OK / NEEDS ATTENTION / CRITICAL]

STAT SCALING
[Analysis]

STATUS: [OK / NEEDS ATTENTION / CRITICAL]

BUILD VIABILITY
[Analysis of viable builds/strategies]

STATUS: [OK / NEEDS ATTENTION / CRITICAL]

ECONOMY
[Resource flow analysis]

STATUS: [OK / NEEDS ATTENTION / CRITICAL]

RED FLAGS
• [List of concerns]

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. [Priority action items]
2. [Secondary items]
3. [Nice to have]
═══════════════════════════════════════════

Tips

• Balance is iterative—this is a starting point
• Change one variable at a time when fixing
• Playtest data trumps theory
• Fun beats math (if both can't coexist)