Help us improve
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
From summer
Helps developers decide what game to make, scope the project, and turn a vague idea into a buildable 1-page brief with genre, core loop, mechanics, and art direction.
npx claudepluginhub summerengine/summer-engine-agent --plugin summerHow this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/summer:brainstorm-game.summer/**project.godot**/*.mdThis skill is limited to the following tools:
The summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Most game projects fail because they were never scoped. This skill turns "I want to make a game" into a 1-page brief that names the pitch, the core loop, three mechanics max, the art direction, and the scope (jam / vertical slice / full game). The brief lands at `.summer/GameSoul.md` — the file Summer's onboarding pipeline and every future `summer:` skill reads on first turn.
Orchestrates the full game-dev pipeline from brainstorm to ship, delegating to specialist skills with explicit checkpoints. Trigger on 'make me a game' or 'build a game'.
Guides users interactively to create game briefs defining their game vision. Useful for game planning. Auto-activates on 'game brief' or 'create brief'; invoke via /gds-create-game-brief.
Guides video game development: brainstorm ideas, plan gameplay loops, choose engines like Unity/Godot/Three.js/Phaser, scaffold projects, add features, fix bugs, create assets.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
Most game projects fail because they were never scoped. This skill turns "I want to make a game" into a 1-page brief that names the pitch, the core loop, three mechanics max, the art direction, and the scope (jam / vertical slice / full game). The brief lands at .summer/GameSoul.md — the file Summer's onboarding pipeline and every future summer: skill reads on first turn.
Core principle: Constrain ruthlessly. A buildable bad idea beats an un-buildable great idea. Three mechanics, one art direction, one scope. Anything else gets parked in a "Later" list.
Ask exactly this and wait:
One sentence — what kind of game do you want to make?
Don't pre-pitch genres. Don't list options. Read what they say. The first sentence is signal.
If they freeze ("I don't know"), offer 4 reference points only:
No worries. Pick the one that pulls you most: a) something cozy and exploratory (Stardew, A Short Hike), b) something tight and skill-based (Celeste, Hades), c) something story-led (Disco Elysium, Citizen Sleeper), d) something silly and short (Goat Sim, Untitled Goose). Or describe a different vibe.
Read their answer for a genre anchor and pick one branch. Don't ask multiple questions in parallel.
| Anchor word(s) | Branch |
|---|---|
| "shooter", "FPS", "TPS", "combat" | Action-Combat branch |
| "platformer", "metroidvania", "souls-like" | Skill-Platforming branch |
| "RPG", "story", "narrative", "dialogue" | Narrative branch |
| "roguelike", "deckbuilder", "auto-battler" | Run-Based branch |
| "sim", "cozy", "farming", "city-builder" | Sim branch |
| "puzzle", "physics", "sandbox" | Puzzle branch |
| "horror", "atmospheric" | Horror branch |
| "multiplayer", "PvP", "co-op" | Multiplayer branch (forces the multiplayer-or-not call before scope) |
If unclear, ask the smallest disambiguating question:
Tighter on this — is it more "tense and dangerous" or "calm and exploratory"?
A core loop is what the player does for 30 seconds, repeated. State a candidate and ask them to refine. Examples per branch:
| Branch | Candidate core loop |
|---|---|
| Action-Combat | "Enter room, read enemy patterns, kill, loot, advance." |
| Skill-Platforming | "See obstacle, attempt, fail, learn, retry, clear, next." |
| Narrative | "Walk to character, choose dialogue, see consequence, walk to next." |
| Run-Based | "Pick a card/weapon/build, fight, die, unlock, repeat with edge." |
| Sim | "Plan day, execute, harvest reward, plan next day." |
| Puzzle | "See state, form theory, test, observe, solve or rethink." |
| Horror | "Hear cue, locate threat, hide or flee, advance space." |
State your candidate. Ask:
The 30-second loop I'm hearing: . Does that match what you have in your head, or is the actual moment-to-moment different?
Force the trade. State the rule:
Three mechanics, no more. What are the three things this game has that other games in this genre don't?
If they pitch five, push back. Not "we'll add it later" — actually cut. Two examples for them to react to:
Hades has three: dash-attack-cast, room reward choice, and run-end conversation. Everything else (mirror upgrades, weapon variants, bosses) is content built on those three. What are yours?
Common new-dev mistake: listing features ("inventory, crafting, quests") instead of mechanics ("a single resource that's both currency and ammo"). Push them toward verbs and decisions, not nouns and systems.
Not a paragraph. Examples to anchor:
Ask:
One phrase for the look. If a stranger asked your screenshot's style in 6 words, what do you say?
Don't go deeper here — /summer:art-direction is where the bible gets built. This is one phrase to seed it.
State the choices flat:
Scope. Pick one: (a) a 4-hour jam-sized prototype — one mechanic, one level, one art direction, ships in a weekend. (b) a vertical slice — 30-60 minutes of polished play that proves the core loop, ships in 2-4 weeks. (c) a full game — 4-20 hours of content, ships in 6+ months.
If they flinch at (c), recommend (b). New devs almost always overestimate scope. Default recommendation if they're unsure: vertical slice.
Do this in your head, not out loud unless something fails:
If you spot a problem, raise it once, plainly:
One concern: . Suggest . OK or do you want to push through anyway?
Compose the 1-page brief. Format:
# <Game Name or "Untitled">
**Pitch:** <One sentence the player would tell a friend.>
**Core loop (30s):** <What the player does, repeated.>
**Three mechanics:**
1. <Verb-led: "Parry to convert damage into mana" not "Combat system">
2. <…>
3. <…>
**Art direction (one phrase):** <…>
**Scope:** <Jam | Vertical slice | Full game>
**Win condition:** <How the player knows they succeeded — ending? Score? Unlock?>
**One thing this is NOT:** <Define by negation. Cuts scope creep later.>
**Inspirations:** <2-4 specific games, films, or images.>
**Parked for later:** <Things they pitched that didn't make the three.>
Preferred (Summer MCP + host file write):
May I create
.summer/GameSoul.mdwith this brief?
On yes, use Write (host file tool) — .summer/GameSoul.md is plain markdown, no engine import needed:
Write .summer/GameSoul.md
If .summer/GameSoul.md already exists, read it first, show what would change, ask:
.summer/GameSoul.mdalready exists. May I overwrite it, or merge into a "Revision 2" section below the existing brief?
Fallback (no host write tool — agent is read-only):
Print the full brief to the user with the explicit instruction:
Save this as
.summer/GameSoul.mdin your project root. Every Summer skill reads it.
End every successful brainstorm with a routing question:
Brief saved. Next step:
/summer:design-mechanic— design the core loop in detail (recommended for vertical slice)./summer:design-level— sketch level 1 / the tutorial./summer:art-direction— turn the one-phrase look into an art bible.- Or pick up
/summer:make-gameto start scaffolding the project.
Don't auto-pick. Let them decide.
| Anti-pattern | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Asking 6 questions in a row before any branching | User feels interviewed, not collaborated with. Branch after each answer. |
| Letting them list 5+ mechanics | Three is the constraint. Without the constraint, the brief is useless. |
| Skipping the "one thing this is NOT" line | This is the single best scope-protection in the brief. Future "let's add X" gets compared against it. |
| Writing the brief without showing it first | They have to react to it. They'll catch their own bad fits when they read it back. |
| Defaulting to "full game" scope | New devs overestimate. Default to vertical slice; let them upgrade if they push. |
| Pitching a genre they didn't ask for | The first sentence they typed is signal. Don't override it. |
| Including art direction details | One phrase. Bible-building is /summer:art-direction. |
| Saving without asking | Always ask "May I create .summer/GameSoul.md?" — see collaborative-protocol. |
This skill writes one file (.summer/GameSoul.md). Always ask before writing. Always show the brief inline before saving so the user can react. See references/collaborative-protocol.md.
No template — this is a workflow that produces the brief that drives template selection later. Once .summer/GameSoul.md exists, /summer:make-game can match it against references/template-registry.md.
references/collaborative-protocol.md — "May I write?" patternreferences/template-registry.md — templates the brief will be matched against latergameplay-mechanics/design-mechanic/SKILL.md — design the core loop in detaillevel-design/design-level/SKILL.md — sketch level 1rendering-and-lighting/art-direction/SKILL.md — turn the one-phrase look into a full bibleaudio/audio-direction/SKILL.md — sonic identityscene-and-project/make-game/SKILL.md — scaffold the project once the brief is locked