improve-game

SKILL.md

Performance Notes

Take your time to do this thoroughly

Quality is more important than speed

Do not skip validation steps

Improve Game

Make your game better. This command deep-audits gameplay, visuals, code quality, performance, and player experience, then implements the highest-impact improvements. Run it as many times as you want — each pass finds the next most impactful thing to fix.

Instructions

Improve the game in the current directory. If $ARGUMENTS specifies a focus area (e.g., "gameplay", "visuals", "performance", "polish", "game-over"), weight that area higher but still audit everything.

Step 1: Deep audit

Read the entire game codebase to build a complete picture:

package.json — engine, dependencies, scripts

src/core/Constants.js — all configuration values

src/core/EventBus.js — all events and their usage

src/core/GameState.js — state shape and reset logic

src/core/Game.js (or GameConfig.js) — orchestrator and game loop

Every file in src/scenes/ or src/systems/ — gameplay logic

Every file in src/entities/ — game objects

Every file in src/ui/ — game over, overlays

Every file in src/audio/ — music and sound effects

index.html — markup, overlays, styles, viewport meta

src/systems/InputSystem.js — input handling, mobile support (gyro, joystick, touch)

tests/ — test coverage and quality

Don't skim. Read every file completely so you understand the full picture before making recommendations.

Step 2: Score and diagnose

Rate each area on a 1–5 scale (1 = broken/missing, 3 = functional but basic, 5 = polished and complete). Present a diagnostic table:

Area
Score
Diagnosis

Gameplay feel

Is the core loop fun? Are controls responsive? Does difficulty ramp?

Visual polish

Backgrounds, colors, particles, animations, screen effects

Game Over & UI

Game over screen, transitions, restart flow, buttons

Audio

BGM for each state, SFX for each action, volume balance, mute toggle

Code architecture

EventBus, GameState, Constants, no circular deps

Restart safety

Does GameState.reset() fully clean up? 3 restarts identical? No stale listeners/timers?

Performance

Delta capping, object pooling, disposal, no leaks

Player experience

Onboarding, feedback, difficulty curve, replayability

Mobile support

Touch input, responsive layout, gyro/joystick, 44px touch targets

Play.fun safe zone

All UI elements below SAFE_ZONE.TOP (~8% / 75px)? Nothing hidden behind Play.fun widget?

Gameplay invariants

Can the player score? Can the player die? Do game-over buttons show text? Does render_game_to_text() return valid JSON?

Entity sizing

Are characters large enough to read? Character-driven games need 12–15% of GAME.WIDTH. Proportional sizing (GAME.WIDTH * ratio), not fixed pixels?

Test coverage

Boot, gameplay, scoring, restart, visual, perf tests

Overall score: X / 65

Step 3: Improvement plan

From the audit, identify the top 5–8 improvements ranked by player impact. For each one:

Title — short name (e.g., "Add difficulty progression")

Area — which category it improves

Impact — why this matters to the player

What to do — plain-English description of the change

Files touched — which files will be created or modified

Format as a numbered list. Put the highest-impact items first.

Present the plan to the user and ask which improvements to implement. Options:

"All" — implement everything

Specific numbers — implement selected items

"Top 3" — just the most impactful

Wait for the user to choose before implementing.

Step 4: Implement

For each selected improvement, follow these rules:

Constants first — add all new config values to Constants.js. Zero hardcoded values.

Events next — add any new events to EventBus.js using domain:action naming.

State if needed — add new state fields to GameState.js with proper reset.

New files in proper directories — entities in entities/, systems in systems/, UI in ui/.

Wire through orchestrator — register new systems in Game.js with proper lifecycle.

EventBus for communication — modules never import each other directly.

Match existing code style — same patterns, naming, formatting as the rest of the project.

Don't break what works — existing gameplay, controls, and scoring must still function identically unless the improvement specifically targets them.

After implementing each improvement, run npm run build to catch errors immediately. Fix any build errors before moving to the next improvement.

Step 5: Verify

After all improvements are implemented:

Run npm run build — confirm clean build with no errors

Run npm test if tests exist — confirm all tests still pass

If tests fail because of intentional changes (new scenes, changed elements), fix the tests to match the new behavior

If the game has visual regression tests, update snapshots: npm run test:update-snapshots

Step 6: Report

Tell the user what changed:

Improvement report

Score: X/65 → Y/65 (+Z points)

Implemented:

[Title] — [one-sentence summary of what changed]

[Title] — [one-sentence summary of what changed]
...

Files created: [list new files]
Files modified: [list changed files]

How to test: Run npm run dev and try:

[specific thing to look for]

[specific thing to look for]

Next improvements: Run /game-creator:improve-game again to find the next batch.

Focus areas

When $ARGUMENTS includes a focus area keyword, weight these specific checks:

"gameplay" — core loop, controls, difficulty progression, enemy variety, power-ups, risk/reward, pacing, level design

"visuals" — load the game-designer skill and apply its full design audit (backgrounds, palette, animations, particles, transitions, typography, juice)

"performance" — delta capping, object pooling, geometry/material disposal, event listener cleanup, requestAnimationFrame usage, draw call count, texture atlas usage

"polish" — screen shake, hit pause, squash/stretch, easing curves, sound timing, button feedback, score popups, death animations, transition smoothness

"game-over" — game over screen appeal, restart flow, button styling, score display, best score display, animations. Button text must be visible — verify the createButton() pattern uses Container + Graphics + Text (Graphics first, Text second, Container interactive). If button labels are invisible, the pattern is broken. Note: games do not have title/menu screens by default (Play.fun handles the chrome). Only add a title screen if the user explicitly requests one. Score HUD is handled by the Play.fun widget — do not add a separate in-game score display. All game-over UI must be below SAFE_ZONE.TOP.

"audio" — load the game-audio skill. Check BGM coverage (every game state should have music), SFX coverage (every player action should have feedback), volume mixing, transition smoothness between tracks

"mobile" — touch input implemented (tap zones, virtual joystick, or gyroscope), responsive canvas (Phaser.Scale.FIT or CSS width:100%), 44px minimum touch targets, virtual joystick or tap zones for movement, gyroscope support for tilt games, no hover-only interactions, tested on mobile viewport (Pixel 5 emulation). Read InputSystem.js, all scene/system update() methods, index.html viewport meta, and Constants.js for touch target sizes.

"ux" — onboarding (does the player know what to do?), feedback (does every action have a response?), difficulty curve (is it too hard/easy?), replayability (is there a reason to play again?)

Example Usage

General improvement

/improve-game

Result: Deep audit → scores 38/65 → identifies top 6 improvements (difficulty progression, screen shake, better game-over, particle effects, mobile touch, restart safety) → asks which to implement → implements selected → score rises to 52/65.

Focused improvement

/improve-game gameplay

Result: Weights gameplay checks higher → finds enemy variety is low and difficulty is flat → adds 3 enemy types with distinct behaviors, progressive speed ramp, and score-based difficulty tiers.

Troubleshooting

Improvements break existing gameplay

Cause: Changes to shared systems (physics, scoring) have cascading effects.
Fix: Test each improvement individually. Run existing tests after each change. Revert if a change breaks core gameplay.

Too many changes at once

Cause: Audit identified 10+ issues and all were implemented simultaneously.
Fix: Prioritize top 3-5 improvements. Ship incrementally. Verify after each change.

Tips

This command is designed for iterative improvement. Run it multiple times:

First pass: fix the biggest gaps (missing features, broken UX)

Second pass: add polish (particles, transitions, juice)

Third pass: fine-tune (difficulty curve, timing, balance)

Each run picks up where the last left off — previously fixed areas will score higher, surfacing new priorities.

For targeted work, use the focus area: /game-creator:improve-game gameplay or /game-creator:improve-game visuals