The First Ten Seconds

Week 15 · December 3 · 50 minutes left

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

Welcome back. Nothing new.

The freeze held through the break. Your game is the game you had on November 19. Today it gets a front door, and it leaves your computer.

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

48 left · Think back three weeks

At the playtest, someone got stuck on your game in the first thirty seconds.

What were they trying to do?

48 left · The first ten seconds

A good first screen teaches the player what to do without telling them.

Remember World 1-1 from October? The first thing in the way sits exactly where a player walking right will meet it. Nobody reads a word, and everybody jumps.

Same idea. This time it is your opening screen.

48 left · Four fixes for the front door

Title screen

The player knows they have arrived, and what this is.

A way to restart

Without it, losing means reloading the page. Nobody does that twice.

The first thing on screen

Should be the thing you want them to touch.

Sound on the first action

Tells the player the game is listening. From November 5.

Title screen and a restart together are P5 on your contract. These are fixes to what you already have, not new features.

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 · open your folder first

Two weeks since you touched it. What are you doing first today?

  1. Title screenYour game’s name, and one way in.
  2. A way to restartFrom losing, and from winning.
  3. Export it, by 15 leftWhatever state it is in. Get your link, then someone else opens it.

Shaky or broken specs from your contract come before all three.

38 left · Before you believe it

“Works on my machine” is not shipped.

Open your link on a device that is not yours. Your neighbor’s computer is fine. Then let them play it start to finish, and don’t help.

Key word

Ship · publish
Getting your game out of the editor and onto a link so other people can actually play it.
Keep this · Graded

F1, Shipped: show me your game opening from its link on someone else’s device, and I initial it.

Write your link on the back of your contract, exactly, so it is in your folder next week. Don’t tell me it works. Show me.

Example · back of the contract

LINKwritten out in full, every letter

OPENED ONmy neighbor’s computer · 12/3

PLAYED START TO FINISH?Yes, on the second try

WHAT BROKEThe title picture was missing. Fixed and exported again.

38 left · Studio

Before you export: Chapter 9, Manage Sizing.
Game feels slow or laggy? Chapter 10, Optimize It.
Stuck on publishing? Chapter 11, Publish A Game.

Take the part you need and ignore the rest. Nothing new – fix, finish, polish. Starred a spark? I am coming to you first.

8 left · Share

Two or three of you: show us your first ten seconds.

Don’t tell us what to do. Let the screen tell us.

5 left · Spec Check

  1. Pencil each spec: ✓ ~ ✗✓ solid · ~ shaky · ✗ broken
  2. Shaky or broken is your first job next weekIt is the last week. Fix before anything else.
  3. Bad answer from the AI today?That is a Failure Log entry.
Before you leave

Contract filed in your class folder, link on the back, folder on the cart.

But first: find a partner.

5 left · Pitch practice · in pairs · 60 seconds each

It’s called ______. It’s a ______ game.
The fun part is ______. I’m proud of ______.
One thing that went wrong: ______.

That last line is the one that matters on December 17. Say it out loud once now – the first time is always the roughest.

0 left · Next week

Next week is the last one.

Final builds get locked, and you write what went right, what went wrong, and what you’d do differently.

The “went wrong” half is worth more. I mean that literally.