Files
Claude-Code-Game-Studios/.claude/skills/balance-check/SKILL.md
Donchitos 70fbf670fc Gap closure: feedback loops, traceability, and new /content-audit skill
- NEW /content-audit skill: GDD-specified content vs implemented content gap
  report with COMPLETE/IN PROGRESS/EARLY/NOT STARTED per system
- balance-check: Fix & Verify Cycle phase (fix → re-verify → propagate-design-change)
- perf-profile: Scope & Timeline Decision phase for M/L effort optimizations
- playtest-report: Action Routing phase categorizes findings → design/balance/bugs/polish
- review-all-gdds: Phase 4 Cross-System Scenario Walkthrough (multi-system sequences)
- story-done: Test-Criterion Traceability (each AC mapped to a test, BLOCKING if >50% untested)
- code-review: ADR Compliance Check (ARCHITECTURAL VIOLATION / ADR DRIFT / MINOR DEVIATION)
- setup-engine: upgrade subcommand (pre-upgrade API scan, migration plan, VERSION.md update)
- story-readiness: Asset References Check (verifies referenced asset paths exist)
- validate-assets.sh: invalid JSON now exits 1 (blocking); naming issues exit 0 (warning)
- workflow-catalog.yaml + sprint-plan: /scope-check wired into production phase

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-03-12 11:18:43 +11:00

94 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown

---
name: balance-check
description: "Analyzes game balance data files, formulas, and configuration to identify outliers, broken progressions, degenerate strategies, and economy imbalances. Use after modifying any balance-related data or design."
argument-hint: "[system-name|path-to-data-file]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep
context: fork
agent: Explore
---
When this skill is invoked:
1. **Identify the balance domain** from the argument.
2. **Read relevant data files** from `assets/data/` and `design/balance/`.
3. **Read the design document** for the system being checked from `design/gdd/`.
4. **Perform analysis**:
For **combat balance**:
- Calculate DPS for all weapons/abilities at each power tier
- Check time-to-kill at each tier
- Identify any options that dominate all others (strictly better)
- Check if defensive options can create unkillable states
- Verify damage type/resistance interactions are balanced
For **economy balance**:
- Map all resource faucets and sinks with flow rates
- Project resource accumulation over time
- Check for infinite resource loops
- Verify gold sinks scale with gold generation
- Check if any items are never worth purchasing
For **progression balance**:
- Plot the XP curve and power curve
- Check for dead zones (no meaningful progression for too long)
- Check for power spikes (sudden jumps in capability)
- Verify content gates align with expected player power
- Check if skip/grind strategies break intended pacing
For **loot balance**:
- Calculate expected time to acquire each rarity tier
- Check pity timer math
- Verify no loot is strictly useless at any stage
- Check inventory pressure vs acquisition rate
5. **Output the analysis**:
```
## Balance Check: [System Name]
### Data Sources Analyzed
- [List of files read]
### Health Summary: [HEALTHY / CONCERNS / CRITICAL ISSUES]
### Outliers Detected
| Item/Value | Expected Range | Actual | Issue |
|-----------|---------------|--------|-------|
### Degenerate Strategies Found
- [Strategy description and why it is problematic]
### Progression Analysis
[Graph description or table showing progression curve health]
### Recommendations
| Priority | Issue | Suggested Fix | Impact |
|----------|-------|--------------|--------|
### Values That Need Attention
[Specific values with suggested adjustments and rationale]
```
6. **Fix & Verify Cycle**
After presenting the report, ask:
> "Would you like to fix any of these balance issues now?"
If yes:
- Ask which issue to address first (refer to the Recommendations table by priority row)
- Guide the user to update the relevant data file in `assets/data/` or formula in `design/balance/`
- After each fix, offer to re-run the relevant balance checks for that system to verify the fix did not introduce new outliers or degenerate interactions
- If the fix changes a tuning knob that is defined in a GDD or referenced by an ADR, remind the user:
> "This value is defined in a design document. Run `/propagate-design-change [path]` on the affected GDD to find downstream impacts before committing."
If no:
- Summarize the open issues and suggest saving the report to `design/balance/balance-check-[system]-[date].md` for later.
End with:
> "Re-run `/balance-check` after fixes to verify."