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ManiMani Portfolio
Metadata
- Type
- markdown artifact
- Source ID
- d9c8058a-3488-45e1-9fbe-de64f216564d
- Created
- 2026-09-25T20:53:15.304882Z
- Created by
- Codex with Túlio Caraciolo
- Status
- parsed
- Content URI
- docs/studio/PORTFOLIO.md
- External ID
- docs/studio/PORTFOLIO.md
- Revision
- 2026-09-21-codex
Content
# ManiMani Portfolio Updated: 2026-09-21 Source context: Portfolio Review Planning conversation plus subsequent MM-DOS board/setup updates. ## Current Direction The portfolio direction is to reduce the number of active games in a given week while increasing the number of Player Fit tests and same-week learning loops per selected game. Favor cheap, clearly attributable experiments over broad polishing. A small number of focused games should receive multiple tests when the result is promising or diagnostically useful. The studio should optimize for learning density: fewer active bets, cleaner hypotheses, faster Player Fit evidence, and explicit continue / iterate / park / promote decisions. This direction is also a knowledge-structure decision for MM-DOS: - Project Flow remains the operational board for actual project state. - Projects, experiments, references, analyses, and Player Fit records remain the evidence source for individual games. - The Ideation Process remains the home for discovery methodology and cross-project learnings. - The Portfolio document/source is for current cross-project portfolio context: active opportunities, holds, strategic direction, and unresolved portfolio-level questions. Do not create heavy portfolio scoring, opportunity entities, or prioritization systems yet. Keep this as a living human-readable and agent-readable document/source until querying becomes painful enough to justify more structure. ## Active Opportunities ### Feed the Cat Food Sort A new standalone Food Sort-based cat-care branch, separate from Matchy Cat history. Rationale: - Matchy Cat showed immediate Match-3 rejection/control friction in many short sessions. - Color Cat Care suggested sorting-like mechanics are more understandable, but suffered boredom around puzzle 2-3. - Food Sort may combine stronger food theme fit with a simple tray sorting / match-3 loop and a lightweight cat-feeding payoff. Current status: - MM-DOS project exists: Feed the Cat Food Sort. - Primary reference: Food Sort: Puzzle Game. - Board state: Experiment Ready. - Current experiment: Food Sort Cat-Care Baseline. Direction: - Build a clean Food Sort baseline first. - Keep cat-care purpose lightweight and visible. - Do not import Patience, recovery, Bonding, or broad Matchy Cat systems before the Food Sort baseline earns it. - Use Matchy Cat / Color Cat Care only as evidence and comparison material, not as inherited design obligation. Next evidence needed: - First Player Fit baseline. - Early evidence on first correct clear, cat payoff clarity, food/tray readability, and puzzle 2-3 boredom. ### Breakfast Cooking Time / Royal Cooking A near-term cooking/time-management opportunity based on aligning BCT with Royal Cooking rather than inventing a new game from scratch. Rationale: - BCT is already under development and has a compact station-based cooking prototype. - Royal Cooking / We Are Cooking gives a concrete primary-reference baseline. - The opportunity is not broad redesign; it is tightening the game around time-management feel, input feedback, and quality-of-life shortcuts that materially affect service-game pacing. Current status: - MM-DOS project exists: Breakfast Cooking Time. - Primary reference: Royal Cooking. - Board state: Experiment Ready. - Current experiment: Royal Cooking Faithful Baseline. Direction: - First validate a Royal Cooking-aligned baseline. - Then run at least one input-feedback / quality-of-life iteration if the baseline is viable. - Avoid undocumented Royal Cooking details unless directly inspected or added to MM-DOS evidence. Next evidence needed: - Player Fit for the aligned baseline. - Follow-up Player Fit after input feedback / QoL shortcuts if baseline signal justifies it. ### Peggy's Party Aggressive Opening A cheap optional third-game test, not a broad continuation of Peggy's Party. Rationale: - Previous Peggy's Party onboarding/build-first experiments did not produce enough engagement movement. - The remaining low-cost question is whether the game's fantasy failed partly because the opening was too sparse and did not immediately feel like a party. Current status: - MM-DOS project exists: Peggy's Party. - Board state: Experiment Ready. - Current experiment: Aggressive Opening Busy Party Test. Direction: - Test only the narrow question: does starting with many guests already present and active improve first-minute fantasy/readability? - Treat it as cheap optional evidence, not as a commitment to re-open Peggy broadly. - If flat, park the Airport Empire/Peggy branch with confidence. Next evidence needed: - One Player Fit for aggressive opening if cheap to build. - Optional follow-up only if directionally better and still cheap. ### Jetpack Merge Depth / Jetpack Direction Jetpack remains strategically interesting, but the territory branch is in decision pending. Rationale: - Original Merge Jetpack Zombie has stronger evidence than the territory branch. - The territory branch may require broader QoL, readability, first-minute comprehension, and overall experience changes. Before more implementation, decide whether that cost is justified. - The original merge/deploy loop may instead need depth added around the merge board or other secondary-reference systems after about 1m30, not necessarily battle/deployment only. Current status: - Merge Jetpack Zombie: shaping / secondary-reference search remains relevant. - Jetpack Zombie Territory: Decision Pending. Direction: - Do not update Jetpack this week until secondary-reference review and cost-benefit discussion are complete. - Consider merge-board variation references such as blocked, frozen, locked, special, or constrained tiles, as well as battle/deployment depth. - Decide whether to continue territory only if the required QoL/experience changes have a good cost-benefit ratio. Next evidence needed: - Secondary-reference review for merge-board and deployment depth. - Cost-benefit decision on Territory before new territory implementation. ### Dress-Up Using Peggy / Brega Character Assets A candidate opportunity, not yet ready for MM-DOS project execution. Rationale: - Peggy's guests and Brega's characters may have enough character variety/tinting/customization potential for a web dress-up experiment. - Dress-up appears potentially relevant on Poki/web, but the opportunity needs a clear primary reference before being shaped. Current status: - Candidate / shaping idea only. - No active weekly commitment. Direction: - Do not create or update projects until a primary reference and translation are clear. - Keep as a portfolio opportunity for future shaping. Next evidence needed: - Identify a strong dress-up primary reference. - Assess asset readiness and how the character/tinting systems translate into a first Player Fit test. ### Near-Testable Prototypes: Pin-Ups vs Scientists and Space Shooter Backup candidates for portfolio breadth when the active slate blocks or needs substitution. Rationale: - Both are partly built and may require only a few days to become playable/testable. - They fit the broader discovery preference for turning near-built games into evidence rather than over-polishing weak existing candidates. Current status: - Candidate backups. - Not part of the current weekly north star unless a selected active game blocks hard. Direction: - Keep as substitution candidates. - Do not pull them into active work unless needed. Next evidence needed: - If activated, define the smallest playable baseline and run Player Fit. ## On Hold ### Matchy Cat Status: Parked. Reason: - Matchy Cat's match-3 branch has persistent control/friction and product-fit concerns. - The new sorting/cat-care exploration should happen through Feed the Cat Food Sort rather than continuing to reopen Matchy Cat. Use retained evidence for comparison only. ### Color Cat Care Status: Parked. Reason: - Color Sort controls appear more understandable than Matchy Cat's Match-3, but Color Cat Care still lacks enough early-session pull and loses players around puzzle 2-3. - Feed the Cat Food Sort now carries the cleaner sorting/cat-care branch. Use retained evidence for comparison only, especially around puzzle 2-3 boredom and lightweight cat-care payoff. ### Fruits Inc / BCT Reskin Status: On hold. Reason: - Do not create a Fruits Inc / BCT cooking-reskin relationship yet. - Leave only Fruits Inc 3 as the current Peggy's Party reskin path. - Reassess BCT/Fruits only after Fruits Inc 3 art is in good shape in Unity and after BCT's Royal Cooking baseline has evidence. ### Tapps Portfolio Status: On hold pending new information from Tapps. Reason: - Avoid spending too much time changing or polishing current Tapps games. - Prefer continuing to port their portfolio as-is and gather more information once new games or feedback are available. ## Recently Resolved / Current Board Cleanup - Peggy's Party moved from Parked to Experiment Ready only for the aggressive-opening test. - BCT moved to Experiment Ready with Royal Cooking as primary reference. - Matchy Cat moved to Parked. - Feed the Cat Food Sort was created and moved to Experiment Ready with Food Sort: Puzzle Game as primary reference. - Color Cat Care moved to Parked. - Jetpack Zombie Territory moved to Decision Pending for cost-benefit review. - Fruits Inc / BCT reskin was explicitly not created. ## Operating Principle For the current phase, the portfolio should prefer: 1. Fewer simultaneous active games. 2. More Player Fit tests per selected game. 3. Primary-reference-first baselines when possible. 4. Cheap, attributable follow-up iterations. 5. Explicit parking when a branch needs too much redesign relative to expected upside. 6. Portfolio documentation in MM-DOS as a living source, without introducing heavy scoring or opportunity schemas prematurely.
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