World 4 / Quest 17
Build & Ship the Slice
The whole pipeline, on your own game. Then a 5-minute demo.
Two or three sessions of about 60 minutes+300 XP
You’ll build: Version 1 of your own game: built from your plan, with your art, your sounds, your juice, a title screen, a ship report, and a spot on the shelf.
You’ll learn
- Running the full pipeline yourself: skeleton → play → art → sound → juice → title → ship
- Driving every step with the 7 Power-Ups
- Demoing your game and answering real questions about it
Briefing
You build and ship version 1 of your own game, from shapes all the way to the Arcade shelf. No new Power-Up — you'll use all seven, and finish with a five-minute demo.
Start prompt
Say this to Coach
/arcade-lab Start Quest 17: Build the Slice. Read my PLAN.md and CONCEPT.md, open the coach notes, and let's start with Step 1 of my plan.
Steps
- 1
Skeleton (plan steps 1–3)
Shapes only. No art yet. Follow your plan one step at a time; play after each. The goal of this stage: the rules work and the one moment exists, even if it's ugly. Checkpoint after each plan step.
Say this to Coach
Let's do Step 1 of PLAN.md. Shapes only, no art. Build just what Step 1 says, then tell me how to play it. Save a checkpoint after each step.
- 2
The fun check
Stop. Play the one moment. Is it fun? Honestly? If not, this is where you fix it — not after the art. Ask for 3 options to make the moment more fun. Try one. This might be the most important 20 minutes of the whole course.
Say this to Coach
I played the one moment. It feels close but not quite exciting yet. Give me 3 options to make it more fun, and tell me which one you'd try first and why.
- 3
Art (plan steps 4–5, plus Art Director)
Finish the plan, then art. Style sentence in STYLE.md, the sprite recipe in ChatGPT, transparent backgrounds, one picture at a time. Your Studio Server is running, right?
Say this to Coach
The skeleton is done. Now art: here's my style sentence: "Chunky pixel art, bright candy colors, thick black outlines." List the pictures this game needs, fewest first. I'll make them in ChatGPT one at a time and bring them to you.
- 4
Sound and juice
Sound Lab: which sounds does this game need? Wire them to the moments. Then juice: shake, particles, squash — but ask Coach which ones fit this game. A calm puzzle game doesn't need screen shake.
Say this to Coach
Which 3 sounds does my game need most? Build them in the Sound Lab and wire them in, one at a time. Then tell me which kinds of juice fit this game and which don't.
- 5
Title, game over, blind spots
Front door and back door: title screen with your logo, game over or win screen with restart. Then Blind-Spot Finder one last time. Build one thing from the list. Park the rest.
Say this to Coach
Title screen with my game's name and logo, controls in one line. Then the end screen with restart. Then: what am I forgetting, and what would make this more fun? I'll build one.
- 6
Ship it
SHIP-REPORT interview, zip, Arcade shelf. Same as Quest 14. You know this.
Say this to Coach
Interview me for SHIP-REPORT.md one question at a time, then zip the game into ~/ArcadeLab/shipped/ and save a title-screen screenshot there for the Arcade shelf. Save a checkpoint called 'v1-shipped'.
- 7
The demo
Five minutes. Dad (or anyone) sits down. You show the title screen, play the one moment, show one bug you fixed (from your chat history), and read the 'proudest of' line. Then they ask three questions from your concept card. Answer like a game director.
Side quests +10 XP each
0 of 3 done
Stuck?
- Stuck for more than 3 tries on anything? The Pivot. Say it out loud.
- Plan step is too big? "Split this step into two smaller steps I can play separately."
- Lost the thread after a break? "Read PLAN.md and my checkpoints. Tell me where we are and what's next."
Ship checklist
0 of 5 done
Bonus round
Show Dad
The 5-minute demo. Dad's three questions come from CONCEPT.md: "What does the player do over and over?" "What makes this game yours?" "What's the one moment — and did you get it?"