Game dev concepts

The tricks that make games feel good, explained for vibe coders

Play a tiny demo, see why it matters, then paste a ready-made prompt into your AI coding tool.

71 concepts13 categories2D + 3D

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71 concepts

• 01Acceleration and frictionSpeed that builds up and bleeds off, instead of on/off movement.Movement2D and 3D
• 02Diagonal movement normalizationWhy holding two arrow keys makes characters 41% faster.Movement2D and 3D
• 03Ground checkHow the game decides you are standing on something.Movement2D and 3D
• 04Variable jump heightTap for a hop, hold for a full jump.Movement2D and 3D
• 05Coyote timeLet players jump a moment after they run off a ledge.Movement2D and 3D
• 06Input bufferingRemember a press that came a little too early.Movement2D and 3D
• 07Slopes and step offsetWalk up ramps and small steps without bouncing or sticking.Movement2D and 3D
• 08Delta timeWhy your game runs faster on a 144 Hz monitor.Movement2D and 3D
• 09Collision responseSlide along walls instead of sticking to them.Physics & collisions2D and 3D
• 10One-way platformsJump up through it, land on top of it.Physics & collisions2D (and 3D)
• 11TunnelingWhy fast bullets go straight through thin walls.Physics & collisions2D and 3D
• 12Fixed timestepRun physics in equal slices, whatever the frame rate.Physics & collisions2D and 3D
• 13RaycastingAn invisible line that tells you what it hits first.Physics & collisions2D and 3D
• 14Spatial partitioningOnly test things that are near each other.Physics & collisions2D and 3D
• 15KnockbackA hit should push, not just subtract health.Combat2D and 3D
• 16HitboxesThe invisible shapes the game actually checks for hits.Combat2D and 3D
• 17Hit stopFreeze for a blink when a hit lands.Combat2D and 3D
• 18CooldownsThe wait before an ability can be used again.Combat2D and 3D
• 19Invincibility framesA short safety window after getting hit.Combat2D and 3D
• 20Screen shakeShake the camera to sell impacts, without making people sick.Combat2D and 3D
• 21Projectile aiming and spreadAim where the target will be, not where it is.Combat2D and 3D
• 22Camera smoothingA follow camera that glides instead of snapping.Camera2D and 3D
• 23Camera deadzoneLet the player move a little before the camera follows.Camera2D and 3D
• 24Camera look-aheadShow more of where the player is going.Camera2D and 3D
• 25Parallax scrollingBackground layers that move slower to fake depth.Camera2D (and 2.5D)
• 263D camera collisionStop the camera going through walls.Camera3D (third-person)
• 27Finite state machineOne state at a time, with clear rules for switching.AI2D and 3D
• 28Steering behaviorsSeek, flee and arrive with smooth, natural turns.AI2D and 3D
• 29Line of sight and aggroEnemies notice you only when they could really see you.AI2D and 3D
• 30A* pathfindingHow enemies chase you around walls instead of into them.AI2D and 3D
• 31NavmeshWalkable areas as polygons instead of tiles.AI3D (and large 2D maps)
• 32Sprite sheet animationFlipbook animation that plays at the same speed everywhere.Animation2D (and 3D flipbooks)
• 33Squash and stretchMake things feel springy by deforming them.Animation2D and 3D
• 34EasingHow something speeds up and slows down, not just where it goes.Animation2D, 3D and UI
• 35Animation blendingMix walk and run smoothly by speed.Animation3D (and skeletal 2D)
• 36QuaternionsRotations that do not lock up or take the long way round.Animation3D
• 37Pause and time scaleFreeze the game, not the menu.UI/UX2D and 3D
• 38UI scaling and anchorsA HUD that fits every screen size.UI/UX2D and 3D
• 39Damage numbersPop-up numbers that say how hard you hit.UI/UX2D and 3D
• 40Web audio unlockWhy your browser game is silent until you click.AudioWeb (2D and 3D)
• 41Pitch and volume variationStop repeated sounds from sounding robotic.Audio2D and 3D
• 42Spatial audioSounds that get quieter with distance and come from the right side.Audio3D (and 2D panning)
• 43Save and loadKeep progress, and survive your own updates.Saves2D and 3D
• 44Save versioning and migrationOld saves keep working after you update the game.Saves2D and 3D
• 45Entity interpolationShow other players smoothly between network updates.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 46Client-side predictionMove instantly, then agree with the server.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 47Authoritative serverThe server decides what really happened.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 48Interest managementOnly send players what they can see.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 49ShardingMany separate copies of the same world.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 50Layering and phasingA crowded zone quietly becomes several.Multiplayer2D and 3D
• 51Server meshingOne world, many servers, no visible borders.Multiplayer3D
• 52Loot tables (weighted random)Make rare things rare, on purpose.Procedural2D and 3D
• 53Seeded noiseThe same seed always makes the same world.Procedural2D and 3D
• 54AutotilingPaint ground and let edges and corners pick themselves.Procedural2D
• 55Dungeon generationRooms and corridors from a seed.Procedural2D (and 3D layouts)
• 56Chunk streamingLoad the world around the player, unload the rest.Procedural2D and 3D
• 57Pixel-perfect renderingCrisp pixel art instead of blurry or wobbly pixels.Rendering2D pixel art
• 58Texture atlasMany images packed into one texture.Rendering2D and 3D
• 59Particle systemsMany tiny sprites that make fire, smoke, sparks and magic.Rendering2D and 3D
• 60BillboardingFlat sprites that always face the camera.Rendering3D
• 61NormalsThe direction a surface faces, which decides how it is lit.Rendering3D (and 2D lighting)
• 62Z-fightingFlickering where two surfaces overlap.Rendering3D
• 63Fragment shaderA tiny program that colours every pixel.Rendering2D and 3D
• 64OverdrawDrawing the same pixel many times.Rendering2D and 3D
• 65Object poolingReuse objects instead of creating and destroying them.Performance2D and 3D
• 66Frame budget16.7 ms to do everything, every frame.Performance2D and 3D
• 67Draw callsEach separate draw request costs CPU time.Performance2D and 3D
• 68GC spikesGarbage collection pauses that cause hitches.Performance2D and 3D
• 69Time slicingSpread big jobs over several frames.Performance2D and 3D
• 70Frustum cullingDo not draw what the camera cannot see.Performance3D (and 2D)
• 71Level of detail (LOD)Simpler models when things are far away.Performance3D

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71 concepts so far, with more coming. Sprites and backgrounds in the demos were made with AI (Higgsfield). The game code is ours.