Teach, Then Test

Week 10 · October 29 · 50 minutes left

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

Listen once. Draw what you hear.

The same recording from October 8. Paper and pencil. It plays one time: no pausing, no questions.

Nobody gets all of it. That is what we are measuring.

50 left · What did you drop?

Name something you left out. Then: did it matter?

Changed the picture

Anyone would see it was wrong.

Nobody would notice

Gone, and the picture is still right.

Where in the recording was it? The start, the middle, or the end?
If you could have asked one question, what would it be?

50 left · Remember this one

I gave you more information and you got a worse drawing. More words isn’t more clarity.

So many words that the important one got lost in the pile: that is context bloat. It happens to prompts too.

You couldn’t hold all of it. The AI can – it sees your whole prompt at once. But it doesn’t treat every part the same. Something buried in the middle of a long prompt gets less weight. Different reason, same kind of result.

Key word

Context bloat
Saying so much that the important part gets lost in the pile.

45 left · One question

Why do you stop playing a game you liked?

45 left · What your answers have in common

Too hard

You couldn’t learn it fast enough.

Nothing new

There was nothing left to learn.

Fun is what learning feels like. So ask: is my player still learning something?

45 left · The shape of a good game

Easy at the start, harder as you go. That shape is a difficulty curve.

1 · Learn it where it is safe 2 · Use it with a little risk 3 · Show it the real test

Key word

Difficulty curve
Easy at the start, harder as you go. Teach the player before you test them.

45 left · Watch the first screen

Super Mario Bros., World 1-1. No words on the screen.

How does it teach you to jump?

Watch where the first thing in your way is. Watch how far away it is when you meet it.

45 left · Take this into studio

Level design is teaching, not decoration.

What does my first screen teach, and how does the player find out?

39 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.

37 left · Studio · today’s rule

Change one thing. Then Preview. That is how debugging works.

  1. Say what you expectOut loud, before you touch anything.
  2. Change one thingOne. Not five.
  3. Press Preview
  4. CompareWhat you expected, and what actually happened. The gap is where the bug lives.

Key word

Debugging
Finding out why something isn’t working and fixing it. Rule one: change one thing at a time.

37 left · Studio · when you get stuck

Want to ask the AI? Guess first. Then ask. If the AI guessed wrong, log it.
Changed five things and it worked? Undo. Find out which one mattered.
Lost track of what you changed? Roll back to the last version that worked.

Making it harder? Your first screen should teach, the next ones test. Need real levels to build the curve on? There is a chapter on tilemaps, Chapter 6 – take the part you need.

Keep this · Graded · if you picked P1

Your bug log. What broke, and what fixed it.

Three entries by the end for P1. Didn’t pick it? A bug you wrote down is still the fastest way back in next week. File it in your class folder.

Example entry

10/29 · WHAT BROKEThe can never fills at the well.

WHAT I EXPECTEDTouch the well, the can fills up.

WHAT FIXED ITThe rule checked the wrong object. Changed that one thing, Preview, it fills.

Write what broke in your game today, not this.

37 left · Studio · same ask, different answer?

Asked the AI the same thing twice and got two different answers? That is nondeterminism.

Remember the squiggle on October 8? Same words, different start, different picture. So one good try does not prove your new prompt is better. Try it again before you believe it.

Key word

Nondeterminism
Ask the same question twice, get two different answers. That’s normal for AI, and it’s not a bug.

7 left · Share

One change. What did you expect, and what actually happened?

Show us. Press Preview.

5 left · Spec Check

  1. Read your specs to yourselfYour contract is in your folder.
  2. Pencil, each one✓ solid · ~ shaky · ✗ broken
  3. Shaky or broken goes to the top of next weekFix before you add.
  4. All solid? You may adopt one moreCircle it and date it, in pen.
Before you leave

Contract, logs, and Spark List filed in your class folder, and the folder back on the cart.

Did the AI guess wrong today? That is a Failure Log entry.

0 left · Next week

Sound day.

Headphones if you have them. And you write the back of the box for your own game.

I’m out next week. Star your sparks anyway. I’ll clear them the week after, same as last time.