Q07 · Chapter 01 · Promise & audience
The first playable journey
What is the smallest first version you would happily sit down and play repeatedly?
Selected direction
The direction
The smallest meaningful first slice now has a concrete loop: the player starts in a town, receives a quest, enters a dungeon, discovers a companion, clears the dungeon, extracts loot, travels to a second town, delivers the quest item to an NPC, and that NPC helps the player bond the companion. Bonding the companion is the milestone that makes this first vertical slice feel complete.
The longer-term replayable target is still a deep, repeatable delve that earns meaningful character/companion growth. Exact level gates remain open.
Recorded as: Selected vertical-slice target
Still to decide in this chapter
Pricing details, handheld timing and exact level gates remain open. Steam Deck and Switch are later destinations; mobile is only a possibility.
