Decision

Reduce the narrative scope from a multi-day loop to a focused single-day slice-of-life structure.

Context

Midway through production, it became clear that the original concept—a multi-day narrative loop with evolving NPC states—would place increasing pressure on writing, art, audio, and UI integration within the remaining time. With four writers contributing and only 72 hours total, narrative ambition risked inconsistent tone and delaying polish.

Options Considered

  1. Maintain the multi-day structure and reduce polish across all routes
  2. Cut supporting NPC depth while keeping the multi-day loop
  3. Reduce the narrative scope to a single-day experience and reinvest time into cohesion and finish

Decision Made

I reduced the narrative scope to a single-day slice-of-life structure, preserving the core thematic intent while simplifying dependencies and asset needs.

Impact

  • Preserved tonal cohesion across all dialogue and interactions
  • Reduced asset load for art and audio implementation
  • Allowed the team to focus on polish and narrative clarity
  • Contributed directly to the project shipping on time and receiving strong qualitative feedback on writing quality

Linked Cases

Decision resolved.