ATLAS / IDEAS

Game design atlas

Find a mechanism, understand its tradeoffs and smallest useful scope, then build your game with a design card and sample project.

192 Mechanisms32 Mechanism domain48 Art styles12 Genre guides

Art styles My research shelf Rain Canopy Workshop · Try the complete prototype Pixel toolkit

Guides explain combinations and are counted separately from individual mechanisms.

Genre guides

Roguelike runs

A run begins with a set of starting resources while rooms, rewards or combinations change. Failure resets the run; each design decides which forms of progress persist outside it.

Show the loop

Enter a new area with few resources
Make one tradeoff in a fight or an event
Use the new ability to change the next encounter
Restart immediately, keeping only memory of the route

Reference gamesHades · Spelunky · The Binding of Isaac

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Genre guides

Tower defense

Enemies travel a route, and the player spends limited defenses in space so each tower answers a different stretch of the problem.

Show the loop

Read what the next wave contains
Place or upgrade a defense beside the route
See which stretch let an enemy through
Spend that wave's income on the weakest spot

Reference gamesKingdom Rush · Bloons TD 6 · Plants vs. Zombies

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Genre guides

Deck building

The deck is the list of things the player can do. Each fight asks whether the card just added crowded out an answer that was needed more often.

Show the loop

Draw a limited hand from the deck
Play a few cards with a limited number of actions
Choose the next step from the remaining cards and the enemy's intent
After the fight, add one card or remove one

Reference gamesSlay the Spire · Balatro · Inscryption

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Genre guides

Auto battler

Preparation handles buying, merging, and position. Battle only shows the result of that arrangement. The decisions happen before the fight starts.

Show the loop

Spend limited money on a random offer
Merge matches into a stronger unit and set positions
Watch the automatic fight and see which side breaks
Use the result to change next round's positions and spending

Reference gamesTeamfight Tactics · Super Auto Pets · Hearthstone Battlegrounds

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Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.