Separate the fantasy from the playable contract
Write down the player verb, goal, constraint, and feedback. Example: “Move a lantern through a dark maze; collect three blue keys; the light reveals nearby walls; a wall collision resets the player to the entrance and keeps collected keys.” This sentence gives a tester four things to inspect: movement, collection, visibility radius, and reset behavior. If preserving keys on reset is not essential, remove that clause rather than leaving it open to accidental interpretation.
Keep criteria observable and scoped
Avoid criteria such as “the maze feels polished” until you name what observation would support it. “The player can identify the exit after collecting the third key” is more useful. Also bound the first build: one maze, three keys, one hazard, and a restart. A small limit makes an incomplete result easier to diagnose than a prompt that requests levels, cosmetics, upgrades, and a story at once.
Questions about game prompt acceptance criteria
Are acceptance criteria the same as the game prompt?
They overlap, but criteria are the checkable outcomes inside the prompt or its review checklist. The prompt can also contain tone, theme, and visual direction.
How specific should a game prompt be?
Be exact about input, goals, scoring, failure, and restart behavior. Leave room for visual interpretation where different choices do not change whether the rule works.