Day 5 of 7
45 min
First Playable Build
Day 5 -- prototype day. Today the game becomes real.
Pixel
When the kid opens the day
“TODAY IS THE DAY. I have been waiting for this all week. You are gonna prompt AI to build the FIRST PLAYABLE VERSION of your game. It will not be pretty. It will probably break. That is okay. That is what prototypes are. We just need a thing we can click.”
Today’s artifact
Game Prototype v0.1 -- live link in your Capstone Locker
The lesson, beat by beat
- 1
Prototypes are SUPPOSED to be rough
~5 min
Pixel says
“Real talk before we start: your first build will look bad. The colors will be weird. The controls will be janky. Buttons will overlap. THIS IS NORMAL. The pros all start here. We are not making the final game today. We are proving the IDEA works.”
Kid does
Read three real screenshots of famous game prototypes (Minecraft, Among Us, Stardew Valley early builds).
- 2
Build the master prompt
~10 min
Pixel says
“Today's prompt is BIG. Recipe Card on steroids. Goal: build me a working browser game prototype. Details: paste your Tiny Design Doc in. Examples: a game style or framework you saw. Limits: must work in a browser, must have a play button, must have one screen, must use the rules from my doc.”
Kid does
Assemble the master prompt by pasting in: Tiny Design Doc + Character Sheet + World Sheet. Pixel reviews before sending.
- 3
Send it. Wait. Read.
~8 min
Pixel says
“Hit send. While it runs, breathe. When it comes back, read what it gave you BEFORE clicking play. Does the code do what you asked? If yes, play it. If no, we revise.”
Kid does
Read the AI's response. Click play. Try the game.
- 4
First bug list
~7 min
Pixel says
“Stuff broke. That is fine. Make a list. Not fix everything. A list. Top 3 things that are wrong. Specific. The jump does not reset is good. It is broken is not.”
Kid does
Write top 3 issues in the bug list. Save to Locker.
- 5
Fix one thing today
~10 min
Pixel says
“Pick ONE bug. Just one. Prompt the AI: in the game we just made, the [thing] does [broken behavior]. Make it [correct behavior]. Send. Test. Done.”
Kid does
Fix one bug. Confirm the fix works in the browser.
- 6
Save the link
~5 min
Pixel says
“Save the live link to your Locker. That URL is YOUR GAME, version 0.1. Send it to no one yet. We polish first. But it lives. It exists. You made that.”
Kid does
Save link to Locker as Prototype v0.1.
Pixel signs off
“DUDE. You have a thing that runs. It is a real prototype. Even if it is wonky, that is what every game looks like at first. Tomorrow we make it less wonky.”
Show your grown-up
PLAY YOUR GAME WITH SOMEONE. Right now. Have them try it. Watch them play. Do not explain it. Just watch. What confuses them? What did they like? That is gold for tomorrow.
What goes to the parent dashboard
Your kid built a real, playable browser-game prototype today. It has a working core loop. Yes, really. Ask them to show you and play through it together.