# Shape exploration: which game goes around the toy

Started 2026-10-02. A working folder for one exercise: find the shape (mechanics and loops) to build around the cave
ecosystem simulation, matched to an audience that will be thrilled by it. Nothing here is decided unless it says so.
Quotes are the user's, with spelling lightly fixed.

## Status (2026-10-02)

- Stages 1 to 3 are done: 29 shapes in the pool, split into variants, consolidated into two anchors.
- Stage 4 is half done: the motivation mix and its synergy are mapped (Claude's inference). The market part
  (competition, success rate, narrowly scoped indies) is not started.
- Stage 5 is parked until the end.
- **This game's audience, set by the user (2026-10-03):** Discovery 30%, Strategy 30%, Power 20%, Story 10%,
  Challenge 10% (a first version had Strategy at 20%). Shown on [map.html](map.html) as a green diamond at
  0.06 World, 0.38 Cerebral. The factors in [audience-factors.md](audience-factors.md) are not derived from it yet.
- **What to build (2026-10-03):** the user's principle, accessible and never boring through systems, and a planned
  simulator for balancing: [build-principles.md](build-principles.md).

## The method (user, 2026-10-02)

| Stage | What happens | State | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Broaden | Claude asks widening questions; the user brainstorms wide. No blanket terms ("farming" can mean very different mechanics for different audiences): go down to mechanics and loops | done, 29 shapes | [01-broaden.md](01-broaden.md) |
| 2. Deepen | Questions that go into the ideas raised | done | [02-deepen.md](02-deepen.md) |
| 3. Consolidate | Only after the user confirms there is nothing more to talk about | done: two anchors | [03-consolidate.md](03-consolidate.md) |
| 4. Assess | Per shape or idea: its motivation mix; how well the mix synergises on Quantic Foundry's map of gaming motivations; how competitive that market is; the success rate there; whether indies with narrowly scoped games exist there | motivation mix and synergy done; market part not started | [04-assess.md](04-assess.md) |
| 5. Loop times and complexity | Primary and secondary game loop time, and complexity. The user wants this discussed at the very end | parked | no file yet |

## Supporting documents

| File | Holds |
|---|---|
| [brief.md](brief.md) | What is given: the toy that is kept, the limits the user fixed, the user's reference loops and trophies |
| [audience-factors.md](audience-factors.md) | The factors that the chosen audience decides; all TBD until the audience is chosen |
| [motivation-map.md](motivation-map.md) | Quantic Foundry's motivation model as reference: the 12 motivations, the map measured, the games behind each motivation |
| [map.html](map.html) | A picture of the assessment: every shape and variant placed on the map's two axes (World ↔ Player, Cerebral ↔ Kinetic), with the reason for each position, and ten small indie successes to compare on the same axes. Open it in a browser. Uses `Nick_axes.webp`, the axes picture saved by the user |
| [lifecycle.html](lifecycle.html) | How an area, its flora and its fauna move from unseen to cultivated: player decisions (active), what runs on its own (idle), and what enables what across them. Open it in a browser |
| [idea-taming-and-breach.md](idea-taming-and-breach.md) | An idea for taming and the breach: Sonny's fights made general (a challenge runs on one dial; the answer is promoting a side effect the player already owns), and the breach as a scouting game |
| [findings.md](findings.md) | What the exploration has shown so far, graded: confident, likely, or an assumption |
| [reference-games.md](reference-games.md) | Small indie successes to show on the map page for comparison: the ten on the page and the four dropped, with team, development time, Steam reviews and sources |
| [build-principles.md](build-principles.md) | What to build: the user's principle (accessible and never boring, through systems, after Slay the Spire) and the planned simulator and optimizer for balancing; open questions |
| [gaps.md](gaps.md) | TBD list: where the game's parts don't fit together yet, each exposed by a design framework; extended and resolved until the parts converge |
| [log.md](log.md) | How the exercise got here: quotes, objections, corrections, dated. The other files hold the present only |
| [audience-from-tags.md](audience-from-tags.md) | The audience of each reference game, read from its Steam tags and pitch without the loops, and how far it lands from the loops on the map |

## Ground rules the user set

- The guides in `guides/game-design/` (04, 06, 07, 08, 09, and 10 in full) are relevant, and are **not hard limits**.
  "We are in an exploration phase, I'm trying to match my preferences, my skills, my vision to an audience who will be
  thrilled by it, and this can not be exclusively 'ME'-driven, that's just one part of the whole."
- Factors that the audience's expectations determine are **not decided out of thin air**. They are listed in
  [audience-factors.md](audience-factors.md) and stay TBD until the audience is chosen.
- Stage 1 widens the pool of candidate shapes for the market assessment to judge. It does not ask the user what they
  personally want, and it does not design the inside of any one shape.
- Questions are open. A question that comes with a menu of answers is leading.

## Not done yet

- The market part of stage 4: competition and success rates per market, and narrowly scoped indie examples.
- Stage 5: loop times and complexity.
- [strategy/09](../../guides/strategy/09-audience-and-game-shape.md) section 4 drops farming without a reason, although
  it has the top hit rate in its own table. A correction was offered on 2026-10-02 and not confirmed.