"Guides the user through finding and choosing a game concept. Use when the user wants game ideas, a new concept, a game jam idea, or to explore other directions, including dropping the current idea and starting over."
Resources
1Install
npx skillscat add sneakkestrel16/mininginc/brainstorm Install via the SkillsCat registry.
!bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../hooks/yaml-helper.sh" resolve_config --keys review_mode,automation,docs.density,workflow
Resolved above; use as-is. No block → the defaults in .claude/docs/config-resolution.md
(workflow: minimal, review_mode: solo, automation: collaborative, docs.density: terse), and
say that the settings were not read.
Brainstorm
Turns no idea, or a rough one, into a written design the next step builds from. How much it writes
depends on workflow:
minimal: the Lean Brief flow below: a one-pagedesign/game-brief.md, then stop. No
discovery questions, pillars, director gates orgame-concept.md, and do not loadreferences/full-concept.md.standardorfull: readreferences/full-concept.mdand follow it. It writesdesign/gdd/game-concept.mdfrom.claude/docs/templates/game-concept.md. Its gates follow.claude/docs/director-gates.md; each director agent is given its own gate file,.claude/docs/director-gates/<gate-id in lower case>.md(cd-pillars.md,ad-concept-visual.md,td-feasibility.md,pr-scope.md), and you do not read those files
yourself.
--review in the text typed after the skill name overrides review_mode for this run.docs.density sets each section's depth: terse = bullets; balanced = with brief rationale;thorough = rationale and alternatives. Questions follow .claude/docs/automation-modes.md
(collaborative asks, guided asks only for major decisions, autonomous logs and proceeds; the
always-ask categories always ask).
Ask with the question tool. Without one, list the options numbered and end your turn to wait. The
question is the last thing in the reply: no advice or lean after it. A skipped or dismissed
question is not an answer: ask again in plain text.
Lean Brief flow (workflow: minimal)
A few exchanges, not fifteen: capture the thinking that carries the game on one page, then get to
code. Write from the template .claude/docs/templates/game-brief.md (six required fields, three
one-liners). If design/game-brief.md exists, read it and refine it instead of starting over.
Concept. From the hint typed after the skill name (or one quick open question if there is
none), propose 2 or 3 one-line concepts (verb-first or a mashup of genre and theme), not
full concept cards. Ask the user to pick or combine them. This is the one creative question
every run asks.Fill the brief in conversation, several fields per exchange:
- Working title: the brief's title line. Offer one from the chosen concept and let the user
change it;/create-storiesnames the epic folder after it. - Pitch: the excited one-liner.
- Core loop: the 2 to 4 steps the player repeats.
- Player goal & fail state: what the player tries to do, and how they lose.
/create-storiesturns it into acceptance criteria. - MVP: the short list that makes it the game; each item becomes a story. More than 7
items: push back. Say it is too long for an MVP, propose which items to cut (the ones the
core loop works without), and keep the brief to 7 or fewer. - Out of scope: what they are deliberately not building (the cut items go here).
- Build order: the riskiest or least proven part first.
- Who it's for and what they feel, Art & audio direction, Reference game (the
closest shipped game, and the part of it the MVP keeps): one line each; offer, don't force.
- Working title: the brief's title line. Offer one from the chosen concept and let the user
Show the filled brief in full. Then ask, as its own question: "Brief is ready. May I write it
todesign/game-brief.md?"Yes — write it/Revise a field first. Write only on an explicit
yes to this question; agreeing to a cut or saying "go on" is not a yes to the write. On a
revision, change the named field, show it before and after, and ask again. Then writedesign/game-brief.md, creating folders as needed. Never writedesign/gdd/game-concept.md
at this tier.Next steps. Read
engine.nameinproject.yaml:/setup-engine: configure the engine. List it only whenengine.nameis absent or
empty: on the minimal path it usually ran before this skill./create-stories: turn the MVP list into stories. Atminimalthere is no separate/create-epicsor/sprint-plan; the build order is the plan./dev-story: the first line of game code.
Then one summary line: the pitch, the number of MVP items, and
design/game-brief.md. End with
the lineVerdict: COMPLETE — game brief written; next stop is code.
If the user stops before the write, say the brief was not written, so it lives only in this
conversation.