添加 claude code game studios 到项目
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# Game Pillars: [Game Title]
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## Document Status
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- **Version**: 1.0
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- **Last Updated**: [Date]
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- **Approved By**: creative-director
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- **Status**: [Draft / Under Review / Approved]
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---
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## What Are Game Pillars?
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Pillars are the 3-5 non-negotiable principles that define this game's identity.
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Every design, art, audio, narrative, and technical decision must serve at least
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one pillar. If a feature doesn't serve a pillar, it doesn't belong in the game.
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**Why pillars matter**: In a typical development cycle, the team makes thousands
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of small creative decisions. Pillars ensure all those decisions push in the same
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direction, creating a coherent player experience rather than a collection of
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disconnected features.
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### What Makes a Good Pillar
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A good pillar is:
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- **Falsifiable**: "Fun gameplay" is not a pillar. "Combat rewards patience over
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aggression" is — it makes a testable claim about design choices.
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- **Constraining**: If a pillar never forces you to say no to something, it's
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too vague. Good pillars eliminate options.
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- **Cross-departmental**: A pillar that only constrains game design but says
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nothing about art, audio, or narrative is incomplete. Real pillars shape
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every discipline.
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- **Memorable**: The team should be able to recite the pillars from memory.
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If they can't, the pillars are too numerous or too complex.
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### Real AAA Examples
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These studios publicly shared their game pillars, showing how concrete and
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specific effective pillars can be:
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| Game | Pillars | Why They Work |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| **God of War (2018)** | Visceral combat; Father-son emotional journey; Continuous camera (no cuts); Norse mythology reimagined | "Continuous camera" is radical — it cut a standard cinematic tool. "Father-son journey" constrains narrative, level design, AND combat (Atreus as companion). |
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| **Hades** | Fast fluid combat; Story depth through repetition; Every run teaches something new | "Story through repetition" justified the roguelike structure narratively — death IS the story. "Every run teaches" constrains level and encounter design. |
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| **The Last of Us** | Story is essential, not optional; AI partners build relationships; Stealth is always an option | "AI partners build relationships" drove massive investment in companion AI — not just pathfinding, but emotional presence. |
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| **Celeste** | Tough but fair; Accessibility without compromise; Story and mechanics are the same thing | "Story and mechanics are the same thing" — climbing IS the struggle, the dash IS the anxiety. Pillar prevented mechanics from being "just gameplay." |
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| **Hollow Knight** | Atmosphere over explanation; Earned mastery; World tells its own story | "Atmosphere over explanation" — no tutorials, no hand-holding, the world teaches through environmental design. |
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| **Dead Cells** | Every weapon is viable; Combat is a dance; Permanent death creates meaning | "Every weapon is viable" is extremely constraining — it demands constant balance work across hundreds of items. |
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---
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## Core Fantasy
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> [What power, experience, or feeling does the player get from this game? What
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> can they do here that they can't do anywhere else? The core fantasy is the
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> emotional promise — the answer to "why would someone choose THIS game?"
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>
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> Strong core fantasies are visceral and immediate:
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> - "You are a lone survivor building a new life in a hostile wilderness"
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> - "You command a civilization across millennia"
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> - "You explore a vast, beautiful world at your own pace"
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> - "You master intricate combat and overcome impossible odds"]
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---
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## Target MDA Aesthetics
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[Rank the aesthetic goals this game serves, from the MDA Framework. This ranking
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guides every pillar — your pillars should collectively deliver your top 2-3
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aesthetics.]
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| Rank | Aesthetic | How Our Game Delivers It |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| 1 | [e.g., Challenge] | [Specific delivery mechanism] |
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| 2 | [e.g., Discovery] | [Specific delivery mechanism] |
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| 3 | [e.g., Fantasy] | [Specific delivery mechanism] |
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| 4 | [e.g., Narrative] | [Specific delivery mechanism] |
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| N/A | [Aesthetics not targeted] | [Why this isn't a priority] |
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**Aesthetics reference** (Hunicke, LeBlanc, Zubek):
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- **Sensation**: Sensory pleasure (visual beauty, satisfying audio, haptic feedback)
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- **Fantasy**: Make-believe, inhabiting a role or world
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- **Narrative**: Drama, story arcs, emotional plot progression
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- **Challenge**: Obstacle course, skill mastery, overcoming difficulty
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- **Fellowship**: Social connection, cooperation, shared experience
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- **Discovery**: Exploration, uncovering secrets, understanding hidden systems
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- **Expression**: Self-expression, creativity, personal identity
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- **Submission**: Relaxation, comfort, meditative play
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---
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## The Pillars
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### Pillar 1: [Name]
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**One-Sentence Definition**: [A clear, falsifiable statement of what this pillar
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means. Must be specific enough that two people would reach the same conclusion
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when applying it to a design question.]
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**Target Aesthetics Served**: [Which MDA aesthetics from the ranking above does
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this pillar primarily deliver?]
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**Design Test**: [A concrete decision this pillar resolves. "If we're debating
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between X and Y, this pillar says we choose __."]
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#### What This Means for Each Department
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| Department | This Pillar Says... | Example |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| **Game Design** | [How this constrains and inspires mechanics] | [Concrete example] |
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| **Art** | [How this constrains and inspires visuals] | [Concrete example] |
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| **Audio** | [How this constrains and inspires sound/music] | [Concrete example] |
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| **Narrative** | [How this constrains and inspires story/writing] | [Concrete example] |
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| **Engineering** | [Technical implications and priorities] | [Concrete example] |
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#### Serving This Pillar
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- [Concrete example of a feature/decision that embodies this pillar]
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- [Another example]
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#### Violating This Pillar
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- [Concrete example of what would betray this pillar — things we must never do]
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- [Another example]
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---
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### Pillar 2: [Name]
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**One-Sentence Definition**: [Specific, falsifiable statement]
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**Target Aesthetics Served**: [MDA aesthetics]
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**Design Test**: [Concrete decision it resolves]
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#### What This Means for Each Department
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| Department | This Pillar Says... | Example |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| **Game Design** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Art** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Audio** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Narrative** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Engineering** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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#### Serving This Pillar
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- [Example]
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- [Example]
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#### Violating This Pillar
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- [Example]
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- [Example]
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---
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### Pillar 3: [Name]
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**One-Sentence Definition**: [Specific, falsifiable statement]
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**Target Aesthetics Served**: [MDA aesthetics]
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**Design Test**: [Concrete decision it resolves]
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#### What This Means for Each Department
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| Department | This Pillar Says... | Example |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| **Game Design** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Art** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Audio** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Narrative** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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| **Engineering** | [Constraint/inspiration] | [Example] |
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#### Serving This Pillar
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- [Example]
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- [Example]
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#### Violating This Pillar
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- [Example]
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- [Example]
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---
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### Pillar 4: [Name] (Optional)
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[Same structure as Pillars 1-3]
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### Pillar 5: [Name] (Optional)
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[Same structure as Pillars 1-3]
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---
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## Anti-Pillars (What This Game Is NOT)
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Anti-pillars are equally important as pillars — they prevent scope creep and
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keep the vision focused. Every "no" protects the "yes."
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Great anti-pillars are things the team might actually want to do. "NOT a racing
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game" is obvious and useless. "NOT an open-world game" is useful if the genre
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could plausibly support it.
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- **NOT [thing]**: [Why this is explicitly excluded, what pillar it would
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compromise, and what it would cost in development focus]
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- **NOT [thing]**: [Why excluded]
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- **NOT [thing]**: [Why excluded]
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---
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## Pillar Conflict Resolution
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When two pillars conflict (and they will), use this priority order. The ranking
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reflects which aspects of the experience are most essential to the core fantasy.
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| Priority | Pillar | Rationale |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| 1 | [Highest priority pillar] | [Why this wins when it conflicts with others] |
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| 2 | [Second priority] | [Why] |
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| 3 | [Third priority] | [Why] |
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**Resolution Process**:
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1. Identify which pillars are in tension
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2. Consult the priority ranking above
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3. If the lower-priority pillar can be served partially without compromising the
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higher-priority one, do so
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4. If not, the higher-priority pillar wins
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5. Document the decision and rationale in the relevant design document
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6. If the conflict is fundamental (two pillars are irreconcilable), escalate to
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the creative-director to consider revising the pillars themselves
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---
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## Player Motivation Alignment
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[Verify that the pillars collectively serve the target player's psychological needs.
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Based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) and the Player Experience of
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Need Satisfaction model.]
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| Need | Which Pillar Serves It | How |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| **Autonomy** (meaningful choice, player agency) | [Pillar name] | [How this pillar creates autonomy] |
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| **Competence** (mastery, skill growth, clear feedback) | [Pillar name] | [How this pillar creates competence] |
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| **Relatedness** (connection, belonging, emotional bond) | [Pillar name] | [How this pillar creates relatedness] |
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**Gap check**: If any of the three needs is not served by at least one pillar,
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consider whether the pillar set is complete. A game that satisfies all three
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SDT needs has the strongest foundation for sustained engagement.
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---
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## Emotional Arc
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[Map the intended emotional journey of a play session. This should be a
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deliberate design, not an accident.]
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### Session Emotional Arc
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| Phase | Duration | Target Emotion | Pillar(s) Driving It | Mechanics Delivering It |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| Opening | [e.g., 0-5 min] | [e.g., Curiosity, anticipation] | [Which pillar] | [What the player does] |
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| Rising | [e.g., 5-20 min] | [e.g., Tension, focus, flow] | [Which pillar] | [What the player does] |
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| Climax | [e.g., 20-30 min] | [e.g., Triumph, relief, awe] | [Which pillar] | [What the player does] |
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| Resolution | [e.g., 30-40 min] | [e.g., Satisfaction, reflection] | [Which pillar] | [What the player does] |
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| Hook | [End of session] | [e.g., Curiosity, unfinished business] | [Which pillar] | [What makes them return] |
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### Long-Term Emotional Progression
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[How does the emotional experience evolve across the full game? Early game vs
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mid game vs late game vs endgame should each feel distinct.]
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---
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## Reference Games
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| Reference | What We Take From It | What We Do Differently | Which Pillar It Validates |
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| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
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| [Game 1] | [Specific mechanic, feeling, or approach] | [Our twist] | [Pillar name] |
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| [Game 2] | [What we learn] | [Our twist] | [Pillar name] |
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| [Game 3] | [What we learn] | [Our twist] | [Pillar name] |
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**Non-game inspirations**: [Films, books, music, art, real-world experiences
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that inform the tone, world, or feel. Great games pull from outside the medium.]
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---
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## Pillar Validation Checklist
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Before finalizing the pillars, verify:
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- [ ] **Count**: 3-5 pillars (no more, no fewer)
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- [ ] **Falsifiable**: Each pillar makes a claim that could be wrong
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- [ ] **Constraining**: Each pillar forces saying "no" to some plausible ideas
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- [ ] **Cross-departmental**: Each pillar has implications for design, art, audio, narrative, AND engineering
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- [ ] **Design-tested**: Each pillar has a concrete design test that resolves a real decision
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- [ ] **Anti-pillars defined**: At least 3 explicit "this game is NOT" statements
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- [ ] **Priority-ranked**: Clear order for resolving conflicts between pillars
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- [ ] **MDA-aligned**: Pillars collectively deliver the top-ranked target aesthetics
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- [ ] **SDT coverage**: At least one pillar serves Autonomy, one Competence, one Relatedness
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- [ ] **Memorable**: The team can recite all pillars from memory
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- [ ] **Core fantasy served**: Every pillar traces back to the core fantasy promise
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---
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## Next Steps
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- [ ] Get pillar approval from creative-director
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- [ ] Distribute to all department leads for sign-off
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- [ ] Create design tests for each pillar using real upcoming decisions
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- [ ] Schedule first pillar review (after 2 weeks of development)
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- [ ] Add pillars to the game-concept document and pitch document
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---
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*This document is the creative north star. It lives in `design/gdd/game-pillars.md`
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and is referenced by every design, art, audio, and narrative document in the project.
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Review quarterly or after major milestone pivots.*
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