pixelheros/.claude/docs/templates/game-pillars.md

Game Pillars: [Game Title]

Document Status

• Version: 1.0
• Last Updated: [Date]
• Approved By: creative-director
• Status: [Draft / Under Review / Approved]

---

What Are Game Pillars?

Pillars are the 3-5 non-negotiable principles that define this game's identity. Every design, art, audio, narrative, and technical decision must serve at least one pillar. If a feature doesn't serve a pillar, it doesn't belong in the game.

Why pillars matter: In a typical development cycle, the team makes thousands of small creative decisions. Pillars ensure all those decisions push in the same direction, creating a coherent player experience rather than a collection of disconnected features.

What Makes a Good Pillar

A good pillar is:

• Falsifiable: "Fun gameplay" is not a pillar. "Combat rewards patience over aggression" is — it makes a testable claim about design choices.
• Constraining: If a pillar never forces you to say no to something, it's too vague. Good pillars eliminate options.
• Cross-departmental: A pillar that only constrains game design but says nothing about art, audio, or narrative is incomplete. Real pillars shape every discipline.
• Memorable: The team should be able to recite the pillars from memory. If they can't, the pillars are too numerous or too complex.

Real AAA Examples

These studios publicly shared their game pillars, showing how concrete and specific effective pillars can be:

Game	Pillars	Why They Work
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).
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.

---

Core Fantasy

[What power, experience, or feeling does the player get from this game? What can they do here that they can't do anywhere else? The core fantasy is the emotional promise — the answer to "why would someone choose THIS game?"

Strong core fantasies are visceral and immediate:

• "You are a lone survivor building a new life in a hostile wilderness"
• "You command a civilization across millennia"
• "You explore a vast, beautiful world at your own pace"
• "You master intricate combat and overcome impossible odds"]

---

Target MDA Aesthetics

[Rank the aesthetic goals this game serves, from the MDA Framework. This ranking guides every pillar — your pillars should collectively deliver your top 2-3 aesthetics.]

Rank	Aesthetic	How Our Game Delivers It
1	[e.g., Challenge]	[Specific delivery mechanism]
2	[e.g., Discovery]	[Specific delivery mechanism]
3	[e.g., Fantasy]	[Specific delivery mechanism]
4	[e.g., Narrative]	[Specific delivery mechanism]
N/A	[Aesthetics not targeted]	[Why this isn't a priority]

Aesthetics reference (Hunicke, LeBlanc, Zubek):

• Sensation: Sensory pleasure (visual beauty, satisfying audio, haptic feedback)
• Fantasy: Make-believe, inhabiting a role or world
• Narrative: Drama, story arcs, emotional plot progression
• Challenge: Obstacle course, skill mastery, overcoming difficulty
• Fellowship: Social connection, cooperation, shared experience
• Discovery: Exploration, uncovering secrets, understanding hidden systems
• Expression: Self-expression, creativity, personal identity
• Submission: Relaxation, comfort, meditative play

---

The Pillars

Pillar 1: [Name]

One-Sentence Definition: [A clear, falsifiable statement of what this pillar means. Must be specific enough that two people would reach the same conclusion when applying it to a design question.]

Target Aesthetics Served: [Which MDA aesthetics from the ranking above does this pillar primarily deliver?]

Design Test: [A concrete decision this pillar resolves. "If we're debating between X and Y, this pillar says we choose __."]

What This Means for Each Department

Department	This Pillar Says...	Example
Game Design	[How this constrains and inspires mechanics]	[Concrete example]
Art	[How this constrains and inspires visuals]	[Concrete example]
Audio	[How this constrains and inspires sound/music]	[Concrete example]
Narrative	[How this constrains and inspires story/writing]	[Concrete example]
Engineering	[Technical implications and priorities]	[Concrete example]

Serving This Pillar

• [Concrete example of a feature/decision that embodies this pillar]
• [Another example]

Violating This Pillar

• [Concrete example of what would betray this pillar — things we must never do]
• [Another example]

---

Pillar 2: [Name]

One-Sentence Definition: [Specific, falsifiable statement]

Target Aesthetics Served: [MDA aesthetics]

Design Test: [Concrete decision it resolves]

What This Means for Each Department

Department	This Pillar Says...	Example
Game Design	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Art	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Audio	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Narrative	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Engineering	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]

Serving This Pillar

• [Example]
• [Example]

Violating This Pillar

• [Example]
• [Example]

---

Pillar 3: [Name]

One-Sentence Definition: [Specific, falsifiable statement]

Target Aesthetics Served: [MDA aesthetics]

Design Test: [Concrete decision it resolves]

What This Means for Each Department

Department	This Pillar Says...	Example
Game Design	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Art	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Audio	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Narrative	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]
Engineering	[Constraint/inspiration]	[Example]

Serving This Pillar

• [Example]
• [Example]

Violating This Pillar

• [Example]
• [Example]

---

Pillar 4: [Name] (Optional)

[Same structure as Pillars 1-3]

Pillar 5: [Name] (Optional)

[Same structure as Pillars 1-3]

---

Anti-Pillars (What This Game Is NOT)

Anti-pillars are equally important as pillars — they prevent scope creep and keep the vision focused. Every "no" protects the "yes."

Great anti-pillars are things the team might actually want to do. "NOT a racing game" is obvious and useless. "NOT an open-world game" is useful if the genre could plausibly support it.

• NOT [thing]: [Why this is explicitly excluded, what pillar it would compromise, and what it would cost in development focus]
• NOT [thing]: [Why excluded]
• NOT [thing]: [Why excluded]

---

Pillar Conflict Resolution

When two pillars conflict (and they will), use this priority order. The ranking reflects which aspects of the experience are most essential to the core fantasy.

Priority	Pillar	Rationale
1	[Highest priority pillar]	[Why this wins when it conflicts with others]
2	[Second priority]	[Why]
3	[Third priority]	[Why]

Resolution Process:

1. Identify which pillars are in tension
2. Consult the priority ranking above
3. If the lower-priority pillar can be served partially without compromising the higher-priority one, do so
4. If not, the higher-priority pillar wins
5. Document the decision and rationale in the relevant design document
6. If the conflict is fundamental (two pillars are irreconcilable), escalate to the creative-director to consider revising the pillars themselves

---

Player Motivation Alignment

[Verify that the pillars collectively serve the target player's psychological needs. Based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) and the Player Experience of Need Satisfaction model.]

Need	Which Pillar Serves It	How
Autonomy (meaningful choice, player agency)	[Pillar name]	[How this pillar creates autonomy]
Competence (mastery, skill growth, clear feedback)	[Pillar name]	[How this pillar creates competence]
Relatedness (connection, belonging, emotional bond)	[Pillar name]	[How this pillar creates relatedness]

Gap check: If any of the three needs is not served by at least one pillar, consider whether the pillar set is complete. A game that satisfies all three SDT needs has the strongest foundation for sustained engagement.

---

Emotional Arc

[Map the intended emotional journey of a play session. This should be a deliberate design, not an accident.]

Session Emotional Arc

Phase	Duration	Target Emotion	Pillar(s) Driving It	Mechanics Delivering It
Opening	[e.g., 0-5 min]	[e.g., Curiosity, anticipation]	[Which pillar]	[What the player does]
Rising	[e.g., 5-20 min]	[e.g., Tension, focus, flow]	[Which pillar]	[What the player does]
Climax	[e.g., 20-30 min]	[e.g., Triumph, relief, awe]	[Which pillar]	[What the player does]
Resolution	[e.g., 30-40 min]	[e.g., Satisfaction, reflection]	[Which pillar]	[What the player does]
Hook	[End of session]	[e.g., Curiosity, unfinished business]	[Which pillar]	[What makes them return]

Long-Term Emotional Progression

[How does the emotional experience evolve across the full game? Early game vs mid game vs late game vs endgame should each feel distinct.]

---

Reference Games

Reference	What We Take From It	What We Do Differently	Which Pillar It Validates
[Game 1]	[Specific mechanic, feeling, or approach]	[Our twist]	[Pillar name]
[Game 2]	[What we learn]	[Our twist]	[Pillar name]
[Game 3]	[What we learn]	[Our twist]	[Pillar name]

Non-game inspirations: [Films, books, music, art, real-world experiences that inform the tone, world, or feel. Great games pull from outside the medium.]

---

Pillar Validation Checklist

Before finalizing the pillars, verify:

• Count: 3-5 pillars (no more, no fewer)
• Falsifiable: Each pillar makes a claim that could be wrong
• Constraining: Each pillar forces saying "no" to some plausible ideas
• Cross-departmental: Each pillar has implications for design, art, audio, narrative, AND engineering
• Design-tested: Each pillar has a concrete design test that resolves a real decision
• Anti-pillars defined: At least 3 explicit "this game is NOT" statements
• Priority-ranked: Clear order for resolving conflicts between pillars
• MDA-aligned: Pillars collectively deliver the top-ranked target aesthetics
• SDT coverage: At least one pillar serves Autonomy, one Competence, one Relatedness
• Memorable: The team can recite all pillars from memory
• Core fantasy served: Every pillar traces back to the core fantasy promise

---

Next Steps

• Get pillar approval from creative-director
• Distribute to all department leads for sign-off
• Create design tests for each pillar using real upcoming decisions
• Schedule first pillar review (after 2 weeks of development)
• Add pillars to the game-concept document and pitch document

---

This document is the creative north star. It lives in design/gdd/game-pillars.md and is referenced by every design, art, audio, and narrative document in the project. Review quarterly or after major milestone pivots.