Vertical Slice Validator
Plans and guides a pre-production build to test whether the full game loop is achievable on schedule
- Repository
- Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios
- Stars
- 32,965
- Licence
- MIT
- Files
- 1 file
What it does
This skill guides an AI agent through a pre-production check for a video game: building a short, near-finished demo of one complete play loop (start, challenge, resolution) to see whether the full game can be made at the planned quality and within schedule. Once installed, the agent reads existing design documents, proposes a scope, asks for your confirmation at each step, saves progress notes to a project file, and writes build files with a standard header and quality rules. It also records how long the work takes as a production-rate estimate.
Great for
- Game developers in the pre-production stage who already have design docs and architecture notes
- Producers or leads who need a structured go/no-go check before committing to full production
- Teams using the Claude Code Game Studios framework that relies on this skill's review modes
Skip it if
- Early concept testing before design documents exist; the skill itself points to a separate prototype skill for that stage
- Non-game projects, since the workflow assumes game design files such as GDDs and engine-specific structure
- Users expecting a fully automatic build, because the skill repeatedly asks for confirmation and depends on your testing feedback
Try asking
- “Run the vertical slice validation for my roguelite using the design docs in design/gdd”
- “Run /vertical-slice --review lean to plan a 3-5 minute demo of the core combat loop”
- “Help me record the vertical slice plan and session checkpoint before we start building”
Install in 3 steps
- 1
Download the skill
The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.
vertical-slice.zip - 2
Add it to your agent
Claude Code (all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip vertical-slice.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)
mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip vertical-slice.zip -d .claude/skills/Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.
- 3
Ask for the task
No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.
Get better results
- Have your game concept, GDDs, and architecture documents finished before running it, since the skill expects them.
- Review and confirm the proposed scope before any files are created; the skill is designed to stop and ask first.
- Keep the time limit realistic and cut content rather than quality, as the skill recommends.
What's inside
- SKILL.md
Redistributed unmodified from Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.