Plan and test game mechanics

A mechanic needs an observable rule: an action, a change in state and feedback to the player. Before adding more systems, test whether the first action, win condition and restart work together. The existing guides below provide the starting workflow and debugging checks.

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Prepare a game for publishing

Publishing starts with a game that can be tested, understood and maintained. Check the available creator controls, audience settings and safety requirements before a release. Use the publishing guide for the sequence, and the troubleshooting guide for an actual blocked step.

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BC-0227 · TROUBLESHOOTING

Editorial review 2026-09-27

Build Levels Feel Inconsistent

A level transition feels inconsistent when a learned rule changes without a clear reason or cue. Compare what the player was taught with what the next level expects. Preserve legitimate new rules, but distinguish them from accidental changes to familiar objects, controls or objective meaning.

Symptom

A learned rule or cue has a different unexplained meaning after a level transition.

Immediate action

Compare the same recognizable role and its consequence on both sides of the transition.

Diagnostic branches

The familiar rule changed accidentally.: Restore its intended behavior while keeping legitimate level variation.
The new behavior is an intentional exception.: Give the exception an explicit distinguishing cue and understandable introduction.
Old instructions or state remain after the objective changes.: Align the transition's teaching and retention contract with the new objective.

Least-destructive change

Resolve the specific learned-rule mismatch instead of making every level identical.

Retest

The recurring cue has a consistent meaning or a clearly signaled exception.
The player receives the new prerequisite information before it matters.
The transition does not leave obsolete instructions controlling the new task.

Escalation

Carry the cross-level rule comparison into a focused repair. It is not proof of tested learning, persistent-state behavior or a particular level implementation.

Working notes

Choose a repeated element or action across the boundary and record its meaning in each level. A marked shelter that previously protected the player creates an expectation when the same cue appears later. Different scenery alone is not a broken rule; the conflict is the relationship between the cue and its consequence.

Decide whether the later behavior is a deliberate exception. A new rule can be valid if the player is shown that the relevant property changed and has an opportunity to learn it. If no difference is communicated, the same cue may falsely invite the old response even when the new level was intended to work differently.

Repair either the behavior or the teaching contract. Restore the familiar rule if the change was accidental; give an intentional exception a distinct readable cue and safe introduction if the new behavior is essential. Do not rewrite every level to match the first or assume that a palette change teaches a functional exception.

Inspect the transition itself as well as isolated levels. Instructions or retained state from the previous level can continue to imply the old objective after arrival. Verify which knowledge and progress should carry forward, without claiming that a visually separate area establishes a separate saved session.

Examples

Rule conflict: matching shelter markers indicate protection in the opening but not later. If the later shelter is intentionally damaged, communicate that meaningful condition; otherwise restore the familiar protection rule.
Intentional evolution: a later level adds a new qualifying ingredient. Preserve the learned delivery action, clearly show the added requirement and introduce it before judging the old action a player mistake.