Prototype

How it is used

Prototypes are often ugly on purpose, with grey boxes and placeholder sounds. You build, test, throw away or greenlight a prototype. It is also a verb: to prototype a mechanic. A paper prototype uses cards or drawings instead of code.

Example sentences

1. We built a prototype in two weeks just to see if the grappling hook was fun.

2. Don't polish the prototype; we might throw the whole idea away.

Common collocations

• build a prototype
• rapid prototype
• paper prototype
• playable prototype
• prototype a mechanic

Related terms

• vertical sliceA short but fully finished part of a game, such as one level, that shows final quality in art, sound and gameplay to prove what the whole game will be like.
• greyboxAn early version of a level built from simple grey shapes with no final art, used to test layout, scale, routes and timing before artists spend time on it.
• playtestA session in which people play an unfinished version of the game while the team watches and collects feedback on fun, difficulty and confusing moments.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• prototype · Game Development
• prototype · UX/UI Design
• prototype · Product Management
• prototype · Mechanical Engineering
• prototype · Entrepreneurship & Startups
• prototype · Military & Defence

More terms: Testing

• unit test
• test case
• edge case
• QA
• regression
• integration test
• test coverage
• mock
• end-to-end test
• flaky
• test suite
• manual testing