Prototyping Turn-Based Games Without Code

Their interesting parts — decision structure, payoff math, and pacing — have no reflex component, so they can be tested with simple tools.

"Is my numbers layer broken? Is any strategy dominant?" — it tests balance and payoff math.

One row per turn, with columns for each player's HP, mana, chosen action, resulting damage, and notes; formulas carry HP/mana forward.

With 2 mana regen per turn, Zap spam became strictly dominant because it's the only spell affordable every turn.

Delete or reprice that spell — it's a dominant strategy that kills meaningful choice.

A free browser tool for branching linked passages; it tests decision *texture* — whether choices feel like real choices.

Each passage is one turn; each link is one legal move.

If you click the same link nine times without thinking, you don't have a game — you have a button.

Playing with index cards and a notebook while a human acts as the CPU — used by studios like Firaxis and Blizzard.

If a mechanic requires math the player never sees, it's a candidate for cutting — hidden complexity players can't reason about.