scenario-walkthrough

MLP Scenario Walkthrough

Narrate the player's experience before writing code. If you can't describe it, you can't build it.

Quick Reference

What Is a Scenario Walkthrough?

A moment-by-moment narration of a complete play session through your MLP. Not a feature list — a story of what the player sees, does, and feels from launch to session end.

Write one when: Core loop + 3 features are defined, BEFORE implementation begins (see scoping → The 3-Feature Rule).

The 5-Beat Structure

Beat	Question It Answers	Duration
1. First Contact	What does the player see on launch?	First 10 seconds
2. Learning the Verb	How do they discover the core mechanic?	First 1-2 minutes
3. Core Loop in Motion	What does a full loop cycle feel like?	2-3 cycles
4. Rising Stakes	How does challenge emerge?	First failure
5. Session End	Why would they play again?	Last moment

Input & Feedback Mapping

For each key moment, fill in this template:

Player Intent	Input	Visual Feedback	Audio Feedback	State Change
"I want to jump"	Space bar	Character rises, squash & stretch	Whoosh sound	Position changes, airborne state
"I want to attack"	Click	Sword swing animation, hit flash	Slash + impact sound	Enemy HP decreases

Rule: If you can't fill in all 5 columns for a core action, the design isn't concrete enough to build.

MLP Scenario Checklist

• First 30 seconds described — what does the player see and do first?
• First failure described — how does the player lose/fail and what happens?
• Complete core loop cycle narrated — action → reward → reinvestment
• Every input method used in MLP is mentioned at least once
• A reason to replay or continue is present at session end
• No beat says "the player has fun" — describe what they DO, not how they feel

Deep Dives

• (see scenario-walkthrough/template.md for all 5 beat walkthroughs, Visual Snapshot Prompts, Walkthrough Anti-Patterns)

See Also

• design-frameworks — Onboarding (Beat 2), core loop design (Beat 3), game feel (feedback mapping) (see design-frameworks → Core Loop Design)
• scoping — Tracer bullet as the technical equivalent of a walkthrough (see scoping)
• playtesting — Use the walkthrough as a testable artifact (see playtesting → The 3-Question Framework)
• antipatterns — Design in Isolation and GDD Tome — walkthroughs help avoid both (see antipatterns)
• economy-design — Narrate economy decisions within the walkthrough (see economy-design)
• difficulty-design — Flow and difficulty for Beat 4 (Rising Stakes) (see difficulty-design → Flow State & Difficulty)
• content-planning — Narrate content pacing and level progression before building (see content-planning)