Example
How to finish an indie game demo without expanding it into the whole game
Ravi’s combat loop works and crafting does not. He must cut crafting, show a truthful later card while shipping combat-only, or miss the festival to keep both—without letting the trailer advertise a system that is absent.
Ship a demo with one true loop, a trailer that only shows what exists, and extras explicitly cut rather than half-present
Festival date and the one-loop rule
Keep the festival date beside the rule that almost-systems do not ship
The crafting decision, working loop, and almosts still claiming space until the choice is recorded
Compare cut-crafting, coming-card, and miss-festival options
Name the system that already works
Keep the partial system visible until Ravi makes the cut-or-keep decision
Audit the trailer while crafting's fate is still open; move the shot to Cut only if the recorded scope excludes the bench
Good ideas that are not this build
Keep the already-excluded expansion visible as a good idea that is not part of this three-week build
Blockers in the loop that remains
Keep a true loop bug above new enemy types
The Demo slice Board keeps the possible scope, already excluded ideas, and bugs in the loop that remains distinct.
Open Choose crafting’s fate as a Room with the festival date, playable combat, partial crafting UI, trailer evidence, and all three scope paths.
Ava can compare what Ravi records and flag contradictions. Ravi owns the design, code, cut, build, trailer, and festival upload; Ava does not change the build or submit it.
A demo is a true slice, not a smaller whole game
The mission is specific: Ship a demo with one true loop, a trailer that only shows what exists, and extras explicitly cut rather than half-present.
The consequential choice is not something a board or an AI should quietly make: Whether to cut crafting entirely, ship combat-only with a “coming” card, or miss the festival and keep both systems.
You.one can keep the work, several kinds of evidence, and “Choose crafting’s fate” decision visible through its Superboard view. The organized facts support Ravi; they do not replace Ravi's judgment: Ravi chooses the slice, fixes bugs, and owns the build and festival upload.
Available today
Demo slice: the working map
The Demo slice Board gives this mission one durable operating picture. Ravi can use familiar language instead of translating the situation into project-management jargon. Its four Lists separate the kinds of attention this situation actually requires.
The Lists separate what Ravi can move now, what is evidence, what is already waiting on a named person or event, and what still needs a decision.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| List | What belongs here |
|---|---|
| Mission | Festival date and the one-loop rule |
| Possible demo scope | The crafting decision, working loop, and almosts still claiming space until the choice is recorded |
| Cut | Good ideas that are not this build |
| Bugs | Blockers in the loop that remains |
Available today
Open one decision: Choose crafting’s fate
Opening the Card gives the visible item durable depth. Stage can hold Scope-cut brief: Place festival date, working combat, and cut / coming-card / miss-date options on one page. Chat keeps the request and response beside that artifact instead of in a detached thread. Pulse can show “Open decision: Ravi will choose what the demo actually contains.”
A Card Chat request can ask Ava to prepare the specific comparison or extraction in “Choose crafting’s fate” from the visible evidence. Ava can work from the context Ravi deliberately brings into this Card, List, or Board; she cannot monitor the rest of life, contact anyone, or inherit the decision.
Ravi's call remains explicit: Ravi chooses the slice, fixes bugs, and owns the build and festival upload.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| Surface | Job in this example |
|---|---|
| Stage | Scope-cut brief: Place festival date, working combat, and cut / coming-card / miss-date options on one page |
| Chat | Keep Ravi's request and Ava's attributed response with the work |
| Pulse | Open decision: Ravi will choose what the demo actually contains |
Useful Ava requests, with the boundary intact
These requests stay with the facts Ravi has made visible around “Choose crafting’s fate.” Ravi supplies the evidence, checks Ava's work, and decides what belongs in the Room.
Current Ava can prepare help after an explicit request. She cannot make the choice, represent Ravi, watch other work on her own, or contact anyone.
Ravi owns the design, the cut, and the upload. Ava does not write code, ship a build, or submit to a festival.
A demo that tells the truth: combat is the loop, crafting is cut or later, and the trailer does not show a bench that is not there.
- Request idea: using only the context visible in this Card Room, compare cutting crafting, shipping a coming card, and missing the festival. Do not change the build or choose for me.
- Request idea: use only the Scope-cut brief and notes the Owner has placed in this Card Room to separate facts, assumptions, and unanswered questions
- Request idea: in “Choose crafting’s fate,” show which visible fact could reverse the current choice
The limit of a Trello from last year, a bug list in a text file, and Discord comments
A Trello from last year, a bug list in a text file, and Discord comments can be enough while the situation stays simple: the slice is already true.
It starts to break when a trailer, a crafting almost, and a festival date disagree about what exists.
The Demo slice Board earns its place only when the familiar tool—a Trello from last year, a bug list in a text file, and Discord comments—can no longer keep the reason, Scope-cut brief, conversation, current state, decision, and history connected.
A practical way to start the Demo slice Board
Ravi should rename every List or Card that feels artificial. This recipe succeeds when “Choose crafting’s fate” becomes easier to decide and fewer open loops depend on memory—not when the Board looks tidy.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Name the date and the loop | One true system |
| 2. Keep almosts visible | Do not call an almost-system shipped or cut before the scope decision |
| 3. List loop bugs only | New enemy types wait |
| 4. Audit trailer shots | List shots that depend on unbuilt systems; move a shot to Cut only after the Room records scope |
| 5. Choose crafting’s fate | Open a Room before the crafting UI or trailer-only bench shot quietly expands the slice |
Where this example stops
- This is a fictional example, not a customer story.
- This is not a steam, festival, or sales claim.
- It does not show Ava coding, uploading a build, or contacting a festival.
- It is not a measured player result.