Claude-Code-Game-Studios/.claude/skills/gate-check/references/gate-production.md

Gate definition, loaded by /gate-check for the TARGET PHASE ONLY. Never load the other five — one gate applies per invocation.

Gate: Pre-Production → Production

Required Artifacts:

• Vertical slice exists in prototypes/ with a REPORT.md (run /vertical-slice) — recommended, not blocking; if absent, surface as CONCERNS
• First sprint plan exists in production/sprints/
• Art bible is complete (all 9 sections) and AD-ART-BIBLE sign-off verdict is recorded in design/art/art-bible.md — where review_mode skips that gate (lean, solo), a SKIPPED sign-off line /art-bible records stands in for it, and a header still reading [Not yet reviewed] on such a project reads "sign-off skipped — [mode] mode", never missing
• Entity inventory exists at design/assets/entity-inventory.md (recommended — run /asset-spec with no arguments to generate collaboratively from GDDs + art bible)
• All MVP-tier GDDs from systems index are complete
• Master architecture document exists at docs/architecture/architecture.md
• At least 3 ADRs covering Foundation-layer decisions exist in docs/architecture/
• All Foundation and Core layer ADRs have status Accepted (not Proposed) — stories cannot be unblocked until their governing ADR is accepted
• Control manifest exists at docs/architecture/control-manifest.md (generated by /create-control-manifest from Accepted ADRs)
• Epics defined in production/epics/ with at least Foundation and Core layer epics present (use /create-epics layer: foundation and /create-epics layer: core to create them, then /create-stories [epic-slug] for each epic)
• Vertical Slice build exists and is playable (not just scope-defined) — recommended, not blocking; if absent, surface as CONCERNS
• Vertical Slice has been playtested with at least 1 documented session — recommended, not blocking; if absent, surface as CONCERNS
• Vertical Slice playtest report exists at production/qa/playtests/ or equivalent — recommended, not blocking; if absent, surface as CONCERNS
• UX specs exist for key screens: main menu, core gameplay HUD (at design/ux/), pause menu
• HUD design document exists at design/ux/hud.md (if game has in-game HUD)
• All key screen UX specs have passed /ux-review (verdict APPROVED or NEEDS REVISION accepted)

Quality Checks:

• Core loop fun is validated — playtest data confirms the central mechanic is enjoyable, not just functional. Explicitly check the Vertical Slice playtest report.
• UX specs cover all UI Requirements sections from MVP-tier GDDs
• Interaction pattern library documents patterns used in key screens
• Accessibility tier from design/accessibility-requirements.md is addressed in all key screen UX specs
• Sprint plan references real story file paths from production/epics/ (not just GDDs — stories must embed GDD req ID + ADR reference)
• Vertical Slice is COMPLETE, not just scoped — the build demonstrates the full core loop end-to-end. At least one complete [start → challenge → resolution] cycle works.
• Architecture document has no unresolved open questions in Foundation or Core layers
• All ADRs have Engine Compatibility sections stamped with the engine version
• All ADRs have ADR Dependencies sections (even if all fields are "None")
• Manual validation confirms GDDs + architecture + epics are coherent (run /review-all-gdds and /architecture-review if not done recently)
• Core fantasy is delivered — at least one playtester independently described an experience that matches the Player Fantasy section of the core system GDDs (without being prompted).

Vertical Slice Validation (only run these checks if a Vertical Slice was built):

• A human has played through the core loop without developer guidance
• The game communicates what to do within the first 2 minutes of play
• No critical "fun blocker" bugs exist in the Vertical Slice build
• The core mechanic feels good to interact with (this is a subjective check — ask the user)

Verdict rules for Vertical Slice:

• Slice was built AND any validation item is NO → verdict is automatically FAIL. A broken or unfun vertical slice should not advance to Production.
• Slice was built but its report says NOT ASSESSED (nobody has played it) → it is not a PROCEED, and its validation items were not checked (they are not NO): the Vertical Slice Validation block does not run, so the FAIL rule above does not apply. The gate item is NOT ASSESSED, never passed — and a "not yet" to "a human has played it" means the same.
• Slice was not built (skipped) → downgrade to CONCERNS only, not FAIL. Surface the risk clearly: "Advancing without a validated Vertical Slice increases the risk of late-stage design pivots. Recommended before committing full production scope." The user decides.
• Skipping is a valid solo dev or time-constrained call. Shipping a broken one is not.

Workflow tier reductions

The checklist above is the full baseline. At lower tiers apply the reduction for the resolved tier; items not named keep their status above. Reductions only ever relax a requirement — workflow_overrides is the only thing that adds one.

• full — sprint plan + complete (9-section) art bible + epics + UX specs + control manifest all required; Vertical Slice keeps its Section 2 status (see note) — its playtest is recommended, 1 documented session with 3+ better
• standard — epics + sprint plan required; art bible complete + UX specs + control manifest → recommended; Vertical Slice keeps its Section 2 status
• minimal — the minimal floor only: a filled design/game-brief.md with its build order, and stories under production/epics/ (workflow-modes.md — the brief's build order is the plan, so there is no sprint plan); everything else drops — sprint plan, epics, playtests, art bible, entity inventory, MVP GDDs, the master architecture document, both ADR items, control manifest, the UX items (key screen specs, HUD document, /ux-review), and the Vertical Slice items (the slice, its playtest, and the Vertical Slice Validation block) — the two current-build checks below replace them Quality checks at minimal: every check that reads a dropped artifact drops with it — the sprint-plan, architecture, both ADR, GDD-coherence, UX and accessibility checks, and the Player Fantasy check (no GDD holds one). Two still apply, to the current build instead of a slice: the core loop is fun (ask the user, or read a playtest note if one exists) and it runs end to end — one complete start → challenge → resolution cycle. A "no" to either is FAIL, as a NO on a built slice is at the other tiers; a "not yet" to the fun question means nobody has played the build — NOT ASSESSED.

The Vertical Slice keeps its Section 2 status at full and standard. The Pre-Production → Production "prototype/Vertical Slice" floor is NOT upgraded to blocking by the tier table — the Vertical Slice artifacts stay recommended, not blocking (absent → CONCERNS, not FAIL) exactly as Section 2 defines, at full and standard alike. At minimal they drop — the minimal route never builds a slice — and the two current-build checks replace them. The genuinely-required floor item at this gate is the sprint plan at standard and full, and the brief's build order plus stories at minimal. The one hard rule that binds at every tier: if a Vertical Slice was built and any of its validation items is NO (at minimal, if the current build fails either of its two checks), the verdict is FAIL regardless of tier — tier reductions relax what must exist, never what must work.