Freeze criteria for a playable prototype build

LolzSoft is a work-for-hire studio with a history in rapid game prototyping. A prototype earns its keep when it answers a design or technical question. It fails when the build keeps moving under the people who are supposed to judge it.

This page is the freeze bar we use before anyone outside the build chat is asked for an opinion - including independent QA.

Freeze means a named build, not a good mood

A freeze is a build ID (or commit + package date) plus a short written claim: what this package is for, what is real, and what is allowed to be fake. Without that, every bug report turns into a debate about whether the tester had “the latest.”

Minimum freeze pack:

  • build ID and platform targets for this drop
  • the single decision this prototype should inform
  • known stubs and cheats (and whether they stay in)
  • controls and a one-loop path a new player can attempt
  • what “pass” looks like for this week (not for gold)

LolzSoft develops. GameCloud Technologies, a 16-year-old company founded in Indian financial year 2010-11, tests. Mixing those jobs without a freeze wastes both sides. When the prototype is meant to be judged, hand the frozen package to game validation with the decision named up front.

What must be locked vs what can stay grey

Lock the mechanic or risk you are paying to learn. Leave greybox art, placeholder audio, and debug spawn if they do not change the question.

Do not freeze:

  • a moving target branch with unsigned content drops mid-test day
  • three different control schemes “depending who you ask”
  • an unchecked list of “almost done” systems that QA will trip into by accident

Do freeze:

  • the primary loop length you want observed
  • fail and retry behaviour for that loop
  • anything that looks like a feature but is still a stub (label it)

If you need help defining that package against a wider production plan, GameCloud’s core services page is the honest entry point for test scope - not a substitute for the freeze itself.

Platforms and package honesty

Say which of PC, iOS, Android, Web, TV, XR and other emerging platforms this drop actually supports. A prototype that “should run everywhere” usually means it was only proven on one machine. Testers should not discover that in the first five minutes.

A freeze checklist you can paste into chat

  1. Build ID and date
  2. Decision this build answers
  3. Real vs stub list
  4. One-loop path and success definition
  5. Control notes for this drop
  6. Who may still push changes (ideally: nobody until the review ends)

If item 6 cannot be answered, you do not have a freeze yet.

What this page will not do

It will not invent studio headcount, pack prices, or client names. It will not claim LolzSoft is a test lab. We build. Independent QA stays independent.

Enquire

When a LolzSoft prototype is frozen and ready for testers, write to Sales@GameCloud-Ltd.com with the build ID and the decision you need. For further development on the same prototype, contact LolzSoft through the site form and keep the freeze notes attached so the next slice does not erase what you already learned.