How to write a great game prompt

The first build is only as clear as the brief you give it. A vague prompt leads to a vague game. A focused prompt that names what the player does and why gives OddShed a clear target, so the first build lands closer to what you pictured.

You do not need to write a long brief. Four short pieces are enough.

• Genre: platformer, top-down shooter, endless runner, puzzle, and so on.
• Player verb: the main thing the player does, like jump, dodge, shoot, push, or match.
• Goal: how the player wins or how the score goes up, like reach the exit, survive, or clear the board.
• Vibe: the feel and look, like fast and neon, calm and pastel, or spooky and dark.

Start with a weak prompt and make it stronger by adding the four pieces.

Weak: make a fun game.

Better: a fast neon endless runner where you slide and jump to dodge obstacles, and your score goes up the longer you survive.

The second prompt names the genre, the verb, the goal and the vibe, so OddShed has a clear target.

• Asking for many genres at once. Pick one and build it well first.
• Listing every feature you can think of. Start small, then add by chat.
• Describing the menu and settings before the core loop. Get the game fun first.
• Naming a specific famous game and expecting an exact copy. Describe the mechanics you like instead.

Play the first build, then ask for one change at a time: make the jumps higher, add a second obstacle, speed up the scroll, change the palette. Small, specific requests land better than one large rewrite.

Before a bold change, export any milestone you want to keep. Builds save a restore point first, so a change that misses is one step back.

• Did I name one genre?
• Did I say what the player does?
• Did I say how the player wins or scores?
• Did I give a vibe for the look and feel?