Don’t Tell Me, Show Me

Week 5 · September 24 · 50 minutes left

  1. Spark
  2. Pre-production
  3. Production starts today
  4. Playtest
  5. Polish
  6. Ship
  7. Launch

Production starts today.

Open the project you saved last week. That is your final project. The sentence on your card is what you are building until December.

Scope small, finish strong.
AI is your assistant, not your author. You decide.

49 left · Say the rule out loud

Every game is built from events. Fill in the blanks.

IF ______ THEN ______.
The one thing my player does over and over is ______.
They do it, ______ happens, and they want to do it again. That is the core loop.

Key words

Event (condition → action)
A rule you write: IF this is true → DO this. “If the player touches the coin → make the coin disappear and add 1 to score.”
Core loop
Do the action → something happens → you want to do it again. That circle is the loop.

49 left · The part that surprises everyone

Your rules are not a recipe.

The engine asks every one of your questions again right now. And again. And again.

Sixty times a second, forever. Not top to bottom once – all of them, all the time.

43 left · Ask the AI

Let’s ask the AI to build a rule.

One volunteer says a rule they want in their game, out loud. I type it. You watch.

IF ______ THEN ______.

43 left · Before anyone presses Preview

It says it works.

How would we know?

43 left · Remember this one

Don’t tell me it works. Show me.

You may not understand how it built the thing. You can always check whether the thing does what you asked.

40 left · Spark Break

Anything catch your eye that is not your game? Write it down, with the path.
Star it if you want to ask me. I come to you first.

38 left · Studio

Write one IF → THEN rule yourself. Then pick your specs.

3Grades 3–5
5Grades 6–8
7Grades 9–12

That is the least you pick. You can always pick more. Everyone writes their own card, even if you share a game.

Key word

Spec
A promise about your game, short enough to check: “every important action makes a sound.” Every spec you pick has to still work at the end – not just the day you built it.
Keep this · Graded

Your spec sheet. It is your contract for the semester.

Every spec is already printed on it. Circle the ones you pick. File it in your class folder.

Example card, grade 7

V1Idea First – my core mechanic started on paper. (sketch in folder)

L1A condition → action rule I wrote and can explain.

I6Caught the AI saying something worked when it didn’t.

A3An original asset I made myself.

C4Helped someone through a problem without solving it for them.

Pick your own from your spec sheet, not these. Circle the code and write today’s date in pen.

38 left · Studio

Still have last week’s sketch? That is a spec already: Idea First.
Helping the person next to you is on your list. It is a spec, not a favor.
Wrote your rule? There is a whole library of ready-made ones. Chapter 3, Use Behaviors. Go look.

Grades 6–12 with no verse yet: find one today. There are Bibles on the cart. Starred a spark? I am coming to you first.

8 left · Share

Two or three of you: show us your rule working.

Don’t tell us it works. Show us.

5 left · The first real Spec Check

  1. Read your specs to yourselfThey are short on purpose.
  2. Mark each one✅ solid · ⚠️ shaky · ❌ broken
  3. Shaky or broken goes to the top of next weekFix before you add.
  4. Cut list and Spark ListWhat did you decide not to do? What got answered? Cross it off.
Before you leave

Spec sheet filed in your class folder, and the folder back on the cart.

Got a bad answer from the AI today? That is a Failure Log entry. It goes in the folder too.

0 left · Next week

You write the class rules about AI.

Come with an opinion about what a machine should never be allowed to do to your game.