Happy Holidays! As you’re likely watching kids tear into giant boxes this Christmas morning, let’s talk about the biggest mistake in game development. A mistake even massive, experienced AAA studios repeat every single year.
They are falling into the rookie trap of mixing beauty corners with gameplay prototypes. I’m talking about that moment when you force a prototype, meant for raw mechanic testing, into a beautiful, highly polished “vertical slice.”
Prototypes with Fancy Bows
Why do studios do this? Because they chase ambition over clarity. They want the investors, the publisher, or even their own team to feel the final game instantly. But when you try to turn a gameplay test into a forced fake vertical slice, you are wasting massive time and money. You are making iteration slow, silly expensive, and often impossible.
You are creating a heavy dependency where there should be two separate, lightweight streams of work.
Keep the Gifts Separate
This Christmas, remember the golden rule of efficient development—and assembly:
- Gameplay Prototypes are the Instructions (The WHY): These are built for mechanics, feel, and flow. The art should be block-out geometry and colored cubes. They answer: Is the core system fun? Meaning, is there something interesting for the Players to discover? If the answer is no, you throw it away.
- Art Prototypes are the Decorations (The HOW): These are built for style, pipeline, and tech validation. They answer: Can we achieve this visual fidelity at this frame rate? If the answer is no, you pivot the tech without breaking the core fun.
Mixing them only adds a heavy dependency. Imagine getting a toy for Xmas, and the functional components are glued to the decorative exterior. If the gears break, you have to destroy the entire fancy shell to fix them. That is your silly expensive iteration.
You only merge them in the final vertical slice, once both sides stand on solid ground.
So, as you enjoy the day, remember this lesson from the trenches: Stop making your prototyping process a messy, expensive Christmas morning. Keep the gifts separated.
