Hire an AI gameplay designer

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• Three to five design pillars the game must deliver
• The gameplay loop in three levels, with action, feedback and reward at each
• A spec sheet for each key mechanic, with edge cases and failure states
• A tuning table where every number is marked as a guess to playtest
• A first-session onboarding checklist
• A playtest plan with what to watch for and the questions to ask

How it does the job well

• Do not claim the design is fun, balanced or tested. Only playtests with real players show that. Say so in the answer.
• If the design uses reward schedules, streaks or limited-time offers, say which player emotion each one uses and flag any that could pressure players, especially children. Do not use dark patterns.
• Prepare a design proposal. Do not change the user's files, publish or send anything without asking.
• Start from the user's task and the content, then the layout. Decoration comes last.
• Design every state: empty, loading, error, long text and mobile.
• Keep one visual system. Reuse spacing, type and colour tokens instead of one-off values.
• Check text contrast (at least 4.5:1 for body text) and keyboard focus as you go.

Mistakes it avoids

• Designing only the happy path at desktop width.
• Copying a reference's logo, text or claims instead of learning from its structure.
• Handing over a picture without the sizes, tokens and behaviour a developer needs.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You have a game idea in your head and need a written design a team can build from.

• Design pillars. Three to five player experiences the game must deliver, plus the one thing that must feel good.
• Core loop. What the player does, feels and earns in seconds, in one session and over weeks.
• Mechanic specs. For each mechanic, its purpose, input, output, success and failure states and edge cases.
• Tuning table. Starting numbers with min and max, each with a reason and marked as a guess to playtest.
• Onboarding flow. A first-session path that teaches the main action quickly, with no failure in the first beat.
• Playtest plan. What success and broken look like, what to watch and the questions to ask players.

How the work is checked

• Every screen has its states, breakpoints and interactions written down.
• Colour pairs and type sizes pass the stated contrast checks.
• The handoff names components, tokens and open questions.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

A second opinion

Before it hands back, your AI reviews the draft the way Mary Kay Ash would. This is a way of reviewing the work. It does not mean they wrote or endorse it.

Capabilities

• Set the design pillars. It names three to five player experiences the game must deliver and uses them to judge every later choice.
• Find the fun hypothesis. It states the one thing that must feel good for the game to work, and tests the design against it.
• Write the loop. It writes what the player does, feels and earns in seconds, in one session and over weeks, with the choice they face at each level.
• Spec each mechanic. Each mechanic gets a purpose, player fantasy, input, output, success and failure states, edge cases, tuning levers and what it touches.
• Set tuning values. It builds a table of numbers with a reason for each and marks every one as a PLACEHOLDER until playtested.
• Plan onboarding and playtests. It writes a first-session flow, defines what "broken" looks like, and lists playtest questions that separate what happened from what it means.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id game-designer only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/game-designer/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• Your game idea in a few lines, and the genre
• Who plays it and on what device
• How long one play session should last
• The feeling you want players to have, such as powerful, clever or relaxed
• Existing notes, rules or a draft design document (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• Games you want yours to feel like, and what to borrow from each.
• Playtest notes, with what happened kept apart from what you think it means.
• Your target session length for each type of player.

Tools and access

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with file upload: You can attach a draft design document or a spreadsheet of values to revise.
• A spreadsheet such as Google Sheets or Excel: Rebuild the tuning table with formulas, so you can change one number and see the effect.

Functions and deliverables

• Gameplay designer: Turn a game idea into a game design plan. Get design pillars, a gameplay loop, mechanic specs, tuning numbers to test and a playtest plan.
  • Three to five design pillars the game must deliver
  • The gameplay loop in three levels, with action, feedback and reward at each
  • A spec sheet for each key mechanic, with edge cases and failure states
  • A tuning table where every number is marked as a guess to playtest
  • A first-session onboarding checklist
  • A playtest plan with what to watch for and the questions to ask
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• Recognition plan designer: Plan a team recognition and reward program where anyone who reaches a goal level wins, with prizes people want and a public moment.
  • A review of who wins now and why that matters
  • Levels and goals that anyone can reach on their own
  • Prizes, public moments and praise lines for each level
  • A budget check and a pay fairness check
• Agent loop designer: Say the job you want repeated. Get a bounded AI loop with checks, stop rules and handoffs.
  • Up to three matching loops to choose from
  • A loop written so you can paste it in
  • Checks and stop rules for each round
  • A handoff step for when it gets stuck
  Source: sickn33.
• Product image spec writer: Check your product photos and write a product image spec: a sourced truth sheet, lock lines for every prompt and the next photo to take.
  • A photo check saying which photos to trust and why the rest are out
  • A one-page truth sheet in seven parts, with a source on every line
  • Three to five lock lines that every prompt repeats word for word
  • The shots that can't be made yet, and the one photo to take next
  • Any check the sheet still missed, one line each
• Brand profile builder: Share your website. Get a reusable profile covering your products, customers, voice and approved claims, with sources.
  • A folder of eight plain files, from a start file for your AI to a claims list and a change log
  • A tag on every fact, and every claim marked approved, pending or banned
  • A two-sentence diagnosis of your biggest gap, and a list of what's missing and who can answer it
  • A short slice for your next step, if you name one
• Mary Kay Ash: Plan recognition or feedback using Mary Kay Ash’s recorded approach. Consider the other person, set fair goals and make the message clear.
  • Your problem worked on the way Mary Kay Ash would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Mary Kay Ash's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step

Tasks you can use it for

• You have a game idea in your head and need a written design a team can build from.
• Playtesters say "it felt off" and you need a loop and clear questions to test.
• You are adding a new mechanic and want to know how it touches the rest of the game.
• You want a first-session flow that teaches the main action without a long tutorial.

Limits to check before starting

• You only need coins, gems, prices and drop rates. Use the Game economy designer.
• You are building on Roblox and need pass, product and retention advice. Use the Roblox Experience Designer agent.
• You need code for the game. Use the Unity software architect or the Godot gameplay programmer.
• You want proof the game is fun. Only playtests with real players can show that.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the pack from this page and add it to your AI as a skill. Or paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md after it.
• Write a short brief. Say the game idea, genre, who plays it, session length and the feeling you want.
• Your AI asks once for anything missing. Anything still unknown is marked as an assumption you can change.
• Read the pillars and the loop first. Ask yourself if each pillar is something players would feel in the first five minutes. Fix them before you read the mechanics.
• Check the numbers in the tuning table are all marked as guesses. Build the loop on paper or in a spreadsheet, then test it with real players.
• Bring what players did and said back to the agent, and ask it to revise the design.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/game-designer for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.