mcpField
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brainstorm

brainstorm

github.com/donchitosCreative & media29.1k627 installsUpdated 2w ago
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About brainstorm

brainstorm is a game design skill that turns an initial idea into documentation for the next stage of development. Depending on the configured workflow, it creates a one-page game brief or a fuller game concept document, with user approval guiding the process.

Key features

  1. 01Develop a game concept from an initial idea
  2. 02Create a brief or concept document by workflow
  3. 03Define the core loop and player goal
  4. 04Set MVP scope and record exclusions
  5. 05Write design documents after approval

Use cases

  1. 01Shape a rough game idea into a plan
  2. 02Define the core loop and fail state
  3. 03Select essentials for the first playable scope
  4. 04Prepare design input for story creation and development

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/donchitos/claude-code-game-studios --skill brainstorm

After installing, type/brainstormin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Bundled filesreferences/full-concept.md

Details

From the project README

!bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys review_mode,automation,docs.density,workflow

Resolved above; use as-is. No block → the defaults in .claude/docs/config-resolution.md (workflow: minimal, review_mode: solo, automation: collaborative, docs.density: terse), and say that the settings were not read.

Brainstorm

Turns no idea, or a rough one, into a written design the next step builds from. How much it writes depends on workflow:

  • minimal: the Lean Brief flow below: a one-page design/game-brief.md, then stop. No discovery questions, pillars, director gates or game-concept.md, and do not load references/full-concept.md.
  • standard or full: read references/full-concept.md and follow it. It writes design/gdd/game-concept.md from .claude/docs/templates/game-concept.md. Its gates follow .claude/docs/director-gates.md; each director agent is given its own gate file, .claude/docs/director-gates/<gate-id in lower case>.md (cd-pillars.md, ad-concept-visual.md, td-feasibility.md, pr-scope.md), and you do not read those files yourself.

--review in the text typed after the skill name overrides review_mode for this run. docs.density sets each section's depth: terse = bullets; balanced = with brief rationale; thorough = rationale and alternatives. Questions follow .claude/docs/automation-modes.md (collaborative asks, guided asks only for major decisions, autonomous logs and proceeds; the always-ask categories always ask).

Ask with the question tool. Without one, list the options numbered and end your turn to wait. The question is the last thing in the reply: no advice or lean after it. A skipped or dismissed question is not an answer: ask again in plain text.

Lean Brief flow (workflow: minimal)

A few exchanges, not fifteen: capture the thinking that carries the game on one page, then get to code. Write from the template .claude/docs/templates/game-brief.md (six required fields, three one-liners). If design/game-brief.md exists, read it and refine it instead of starting over.

  1. Concept. From the hint typed after the skill name (or one quick open question if there is none), propose 2 or 3 one-line concepts (verb-first or a mashup of genre and theme), not full concept cards. Ask the user to pick or combine them. This is the one creative question every run asks.

  2. Fill the brief in conversation, several fields per exchange:

    • Working title: the brief's title line. Offer one from the chosen concept and let the user change it; /create-stories names the epic folder after it.
    • Pitch: the excited one-liner.
    • Core loop: the 2 to 4 steps the player repeats.
    • Player goal & fail state: what the player tries to do, and how they lose. /create-stories turns it into acceptance criteria.
    • MVP: the short list that makes it the game; each item becomes a story. More than 7 items: push back. Say it is too long for an MVP, propose which items to cut (the ones the core loop works without), and keep the brief to 7 or fewer.
    • Out of scope: what they are deliberately not building (the cut items go here).
    • Build order: the riskiest or least proven part first.
    • Who it's for and what they feel, Art & audio direction, Reference game (the closest shipped game, and the part of it the MVP keeps): one line each; offer, don't force.

  3. Show the filled brief in full. Then ask, as its own question: "Brief is ready. May I write it to design/game-brief.md?" Yes — write it / Revise a field first. Write only on an explicit yes to this question; agreeing to a cut or saying "go on" is not a yes to the write. On a revision, change the named field, show it before and after, and ask again. Then write design/game-brief.md, creating folders as needed. Never write design/gdd/game-concept.md at this tier.

  4. Next steps. Read engine.name in project.yaml:

    1. /setup-engine: configure the engine. List it only when engine.name is absent or empty: on the minimal path it usually ran before this skill.
    2. /create-stories: turn the MVP list into stories. At minimal there is no separate /create-epics or /sprint-plan; the build order is the plan.
    3. /dev-story: the first line of game code.

    Then one summary line: the pitch, the number of MVP items, and design/game-brief.md. End with the line Verdict: COMPLETE — game brief written; next stop is code.

If the user stops before the write, say the brief was not written, so it lives only in this conversation.

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