Grid Logic Game Design
When to use
- Everything snaps to a grid and moves in discrete steps: Sokoban, sliding puzzles, match-3, tactics, snake-like arcade, grid roguelikes.
Detect the sub-type first
| Sub-type |
Timing |
Input |
Deciding question |
| Puzzle |
Step |
Direction keys |
Each input = one discrete move? |
| Roguelike |
Step |
Direction keys + action key |
Step-based with combat and enemy AI? |
| Tactics |
Turn |
Click to select, click to move |
Units take turns with movement ranges? |
| Match |
Freeform |
Click/swap cells |
Matching cells clear and cascade? |
| Arcade |
Realtime |
Direction keys on a timer |
Game advances on a timer? |
Default: puzzle (step mode). Roguelike = puzzle timing plus combat, HP, and a three-phase turn (player acts → world reacts → enemies act).
Core loops
- Puzzle: observe → plan → move → evaluate → repeat. Undo available when stuck.
- Tactics: select unit → highlight range → move/act → end turn → enemy turn.
- Match: swap adjacent cells → 3+ match clears → gravity drops pieces → chains → score.
- Roguelike: move or bump-attack → traps/terrain trigger → each enemy takes one step → check win/lose.
- Arcade: input between ticks → tick advances state → speed increases over time.
Level design
- Grids are code-defined 2D arrays — not tilemaps, not physics. This is deliberate: cells mutate at runtime (holes filled, doors opened, items collected), and a single data authority avoids sync bugs.
- Typical sizes: 6–16 cells per side for puzzle, up to 20×20 for tactics. Default cell 64 px. Center the grid on screen with computed offsets.
- Cell vocabulary: empty, wall, floor, goal, hazard, spawn, special, ice, portal.
- Design rules: walls form the boundary; one spawn per player entity; every goal must be reachable; every puzzle must have at least one solution; introduce mechanics gradually; symmetric boards feel fair; avoid dead-end states (or guarantee undo).
- For levels with entities on walkable cells, use a dual-layer map: one layer for terrain, one for entity placement — avoids symbol conflicts.
- Copy predefined board templates (small/medium puzzle, large tactics, match-3 board) rather than designing freehand.
Entity design
Each entity type declares: type string (unique), walkable/pushable/destructible flags, and optional HP. Common types: player, pushable box, wall block, enemy, collectible (walkable + destructible), goal marker, bomb, ice, portal. Visually distinct per type; ~80% of a cell.
Undo scope
The built-in undo saves cell types and entity positions only. HP, cooldowns, facing, inventory flags, and game-specific state must be snapshotted/restored via custom undo hooks.
Combat design (roguelike/tactics)
- Bump attack: moving into an enemy deals damage instead of moving. Typical damage 1–3.
- Special ability on the action key: 2–4 cell range, 3–5 turn cooldown, 2–5 damage.
- Enemy AI: chaser (pathfinds toward the player), patroller (fixed pattern, reverses at walls), static emitter (area effect every N turns).
- HP: player 3–10, basic enemies 1–2, tough 3–5, boss 8–15. Healing is rare and small.
- Initialize timers to their actual duration, never zero — a zeroed timer fires on the first frame.
Advanced mechanics (layer them gradually)
- Ice sliding: entity keeps moving until blocked; triggers interactions at every intermediate cell.
- Portal pairs: entering a portal teleports to its pair; one-way per step.
- Elemental conduction: abilities react to cell/entity types (electric + water = connected-area damage; use connected-region detection for large water bodies).
- Turrets: fire along a fixed line every N turns with per-turret initial delay — creates timing puzzles.
- Combinations: ice + portals, ice + turrets, conduction + turrets. Teach one per level, combine later.
Difficulty scaling
- Puzzle: grow grid 6×6 → 10×10, add ice then hazards, then move limits.
- Match-3: grow piece variety 4 → 6 colors, tighten move limits, add clear-specific-color objectives.
- Tactics: 1 unit vs 2 → 3 units vs mixed squads + boss, then terrain effects.
- Roguelike: add patrollers, emitters, locked doors, traps, then a boss.
Polish
- Feedback per action: smooth move tween, push delay, collect shrink/fade, match burst + bounce drop, chain delay for drama, bump recoil, red damage tint flash.
- Distinct sounds for move, push, collect, attack, damage, wall bump, win, lose, undo. Chain combos rise in pitch.
- Selection/highlight: pulsing border on selection, blue movement range, red attack range, red flash on invalid moves.
- Status display via UI events (HP, score, move count, status line) — not in-world sprites.
Forbidden
Continuous physics, free real-time movement, multiplayer, hex grids, isometric/3D rendering, procedural level generation, persistent save/load, tilemap-based maps.
1---2name: game-grid-logic3description: Design and build discrete grid games — puzzle, roguelike, tactics, match-3, and arcade sub-types, level design, advanced mechanics, and difficulty scaling.4metadata:5 source: https://skillmd.com/skills/yhyu13/game-grid-logic6---78# Grid Logic Game Design910## When to use1112- Everything snaps to a grid and moves in discrete steps: Sokoban, sliding puzzles, match-3, tactics, snake-like arcade, grid roguelikes.1314## Detect the sub-type first1516| Sub-type | Timing | Input | Deciding question |17|---|---|---|---|18| Puzzle | Step | Direction keys | Each input = one discrete move? |19| Roguelike | Step | Direction keys + action key | Step-based with combat and enemy AI? |20| Tactics | Turn | Click to select, click to move | Units take turns with movement ranges? |21| Match | Freeform | Click/swap cells | Matching cells clear and cascade? |22| Arcade | Realtime | Direction keys on a timer | Game advances on a timer? |2324Default: puzzle (step mode). Roguelike = puzzle timing plus combat, HP, and a three-phase turn (player acts → world reacts → enemies act).2526## Core loops2728- **Puzzle**: observe → plan → move → evaluate → repeat. Undo available when stuck.29- **Tactics**: select unit → highlight range → move/act → end turn → enemy turn.30- **Match**: swap adjacent cells → 3+ match clears → gravity drops pieces → chains → score.31- **Roguelike**: move or bump-attack → traps/terrain trigger → each enemy takes one step → check win/lose.32- **Arcade**: input between ticks → tick advances state → speed increases over time.3334## Level design3536- Grids are code-defined 2D arrays — not tilemaps, not physics. This is deliberate: cells mutate at runtime (holes filled, doors opened, items collected), and a single data authority avoids sync bugs.37- Typical sizes: 6–16 cells per side for puzzle, up to 20×20 for tactics. Default cell 64 px. Center the grid on screen with computed offsets.38- Cell vocabulary: empty, wall, floor, goal, hazard, spawn, special, ice, portal.39- Design rules: walls form the boundary; one spawn per player entity; every goal must be reachable; every puzzle must have at least one solution; introduce mechanics gradually; symmetric boards feel fair; avoid dead-end states (or guarantee undo).40- For levels with entities on walkable cells, use a **dual-layer map**: one layer for terrain, one for entity placement — avoids symbol conflicts.41- Copy predefined board templates (small/medium puzzle, large tactics, match-3 board) rather than designing freehand.4243## Entity design4445Each entity type declares: type string (unique), walkable/pushable/destructible flags, and optional HP. Common types: player, pushable box, wall block, enemy, collectible (walkable + destructible), goal marker, bomb, ice, portal. Visually distinct per type; ~80% of a cell.4647## Undo scope4849The built-in undo saves cell types and entity positions only. HP, cooldowns, facing, inventory flags, and game-specific state must be snapshotted/restored via custom undo hooks.5051## Combat design (roguelike/tactics)5253- Bump attack: moving into an enemy deals damage instead of moving. Typical damage 1–3.54- Special ability on the action key: 2–4 cell range, 3–5 turn cooldown, 2–5 damage.55- Enemy AI: chaser (pathfinds toward the player), patroller (fixed pattern, reverses at walls), static emitter (area effect every N turns).56- HP: player 3–10, basic enemies 1–2, tough 3–5, boss 8–15. Healing is rare and small.57- Initialize timers to their actual duration, never zero — a zeroed timer fires on the first frame.5859## Advanced mechanics (layer them gradually)6061- **Ice sliding**: entity keeps moving until blocked; triggers interactions at every intermediate cell.62- **Portal pairs**: entering a portal teleports to its pair; one-way per step.63- **Elemental conduction**: abilities react to cell/entity types (electric + water = connected-area damage; use connected-region detection for large water bodies).64- **Turrets**: fire along a fixed line every N turns with per-turret initial delay — creates timing puzzles.65- Combinations: ice + portals, ice + turrets, conduction + turrets. Teach one per level, combine later.6667## Difficulty scaling6869- Puzzle: grow grid 6×6 → 10×10, add ice then hazards, then move limits.70- Match-3: grow piece variety 4 → 6 colors, tighten move limits, add clear-specific-color objectives.71- Tactics: 1 unit vs 2 → 3 units vs mixed squads + boss, then terrain effects.72- Roguelike: add patrollers, emitters, locked doors, traps, then a boss.7374## Polish7576- Feedback per action: smooth move tween, push delay, collect shrink/fade, match burst + bounce drop, chain delay for drama, bump recoil, red damage tint flash.77- Distinct sounds for move, push, collect, attack, damage, wall bump, win, lose, undo. Chain combos rise in pitch.78- Selection/highlight: pulsing border on selection, blue movement range, red attack range, red flash on invalid moves.79- Status display via UI events (HP, score, move count, status line) — not in-world sprites.8081## Forbidden8283Continuous physics, free real-time movement, multiplayer, hex grids, isometric/3D rendering, procedural level generation, persistent save/load, tilemap-based maps.
