Learning paths

A tree sorts, a path leads. Each path is a handful of steps in an order that works, with the reason every step comes where it does. Your AI can follow them too.

An old guide with a lantern staff leads a child, a small boxy robot and a laden bear-like beast across a rope bridge through a blue night jungle lit by small lamps. — Fernbridge Trek, an invented jungle expedition game · invented game, AI image

8 steps

A jump that feels good

Your first platformer, or one whose jump feels off and you cannot say why.

Coyote Time → Jump Buffering → Variable-Height Jump → Tap for a short hop, hold for a high jump → Hitting a ceiling mid-jump should drop you, not hang you there → Double Jump → Squashing and stretching a character without making it look like it grows → The camera follows smoothly on my screen but lags or jerks on another

8 steps

A story that holds together

Any game with scenes, choices or characters, before it has many of them.

What Is a Story Bible, and How Does Your AI Use It? → How to Make a Game Story Without Errors or Plot Holes → Plot hole finder → Find scenes from which the story can never reach an ending → How to Keep Your Game Characters Consistent → How to Make Player Choices That Really Matter → Find the choices after which an ending is lost for good → How to Build Quests That Do Not Get Stuck

8 steps

Fair randomness and loot

Anything with dice, drops, crits or chests.

Seeded random → Chance calculator → Loot Table → Shuffle bag → Bad Luck Protection → Real loot odds → Show loot odds on screen as percentages that add up to exactly 100 → Item Rarity

8 steps

Combat that reads clearly

Action games where hits feel mushy or unfair.

Hitbox and Hurtbox → Invincibility Frames → Hit pause → Knockback → Screen shake → Stagger and Poise → Status Effects → Boss Phases

8 steps

Progress that keeps players going

Games with levels, skills, unlocks or a reason to come back tomorrow.

Experience and Levels → Level-up curve → Skill Tree → Perk Choices → Mastery by Use → Meta-Progression → Achievements → Daily Rewards

6 steps

Saving that never loses a game

Any game longer than one sitting, before the first update ships.

Checkpoints → Autosave → After an update, old saves load with missing items or crash the game → An update removes or renames an item and players' bags fill with broken things → How to Make Save Games That Keep the Story → Game event log

8 steps

Make your game better with data

A game that people have played, when you want to know what to fix next.

What to Measure in Your Game, and What to Skip → Privacy in Game Tracking: Keep It Anonymous → Game event log → One bug sent the same event ten thousand times and ruined my numbers → Where players drop off → The map shows most deaths in the corridor, but is the corridor really dangerous? → How many sessions end in frustration, with deaths piling up before the player leaves? → Compare two versions

8 steps

Animation that feels alive

Menus, characters and effects that move but feel stiff.

Lerp and smoothstep → Easing functions → Animate a value through several keyframes, each stretch with its own feel → Spring motion → Squash and stretch → Idle sway → Trigger sounds and effects at exact moments, even when a frame is slow → Particle burst

8 steps

Inventory, crafting and shops

Games where players collect, combine and trade things.

Inventory System → Item Stacking → Weight Limit → Equipment Slots → Crafting System → Recipe Discovery → Currency Wallet → Shop (Buy and Sell)

8 steps

A world to explore

Open worlds, dungeons and towns that should feel like places.

Day-Night Cycle → Day and night colors → NPC Daily Schedules → Grid pathfinding → Doors, Keys and Switches → Procedural Dungeons → Minimap and Fog of War → Fast Travel

8 steps

Working with your AI without it breaking things

Everyone who builds a game by talking to Claude Code, Cursor or another assistant.

How to Vibe Code a Game: One Evening, Start to Finish → What Is a Core Game Mechanic? A Plain Explanation → A Simple Workflow for Building a Game With AI → My Game Keeps Breaking: Why, and What to Tell Your AI → Boil thousands of repeated error lines down to what you paste to the AI → Show Me Where That Is Written: Keep Your AI From Guessing → Keep the downloaded size of your game under a limit, counted the right way → What Is MCP? A Plain Guide for Game Makers