Day 6 of 7
40 min
Polish Pass
Day 6 -- make it less rough. Add the things that make people smile.
Pixel
When the kid opens the day
“Yesterday: it works. Today: it works AND it feels good. Polish is the difference between oh cool, a school project and wait, my kid MADE this? That is the bar today.”
Today’s artifact
Game Prototype v0.2 -- live link in your Capstone Locker
The lesson, beat by beat
- 1
Polish is feedback, not flash
~5 min
Pixel says
“Polish does not mean fancy. Polish means: when the player does something, the game RESPONDS. Click a button? It changes color. Score a point? Something pings. Lose? A little message. Those little responses are why games feel alive.”
Kid does
Watch a 60-second clip showing the same game before and after polish. Spot three responses that got added.
- 2
The polish list (five small wins)
~7 min
Pixel says
“Big polish is overwhelming. Tiny polish stacks up. Pick FIVE small things. Examples: a title screen. A score counter. A button color. A you-win message. A sound effect. Specific, small, doable today.”
Kid does
Write a list of 5 polish items in priority order.
- 3
Ask for better, not cooler
~8 min
Pixel says
“Bad prompt: make it cooler. Good prompt: when the player scores, show a yellow flash for half a second. SPECIFIC asks get specific results. Vague asks get random changes.”
Kid does
Write 3 specific polish prompts using the Recipe Card.
- 4
Apply the polish
~15 min
Pixel says
“Send one polish prompt at a time. Test after each. If something breaks, undo. We are building UP from a working game, not rebuilding from scratch.”
Kid does
Apply at least 3 of the 5 polish items. Test after each. Save to Locker.
- 5
Last check (play it through)
~5 min
Pixel says
“Play your own game start to finish. ONE time. Did the polish make it feel better? If yes, save v0.2. If something got worse, undo that one thing.”
Kid does
Play through the game. Confirm v0.2 feels better than v0.1. Save link.
Pixel signs off
“Okay. v0.2. Way smoother. Way more YOU. Tomorrow we ship it and you record the walkthrough that you will show every relative for the next ten years.”
Show your grown-up
Play it with the same person from yesterday. Did they have a smoother time? Did anything you polished make them smile? That smile is the goal.
What goes to the parent dashboard
Your kid did a real polish pass today. Better visuals, better feedback, fewer bugs. The skill they practiced: how do I ask for better without saying make it cool.