When you're making your first game, we've told you to start small, but that may leave you wondering: just how small should you be planning for? This brings us to the concept of minimum viable product: figuring out exactly which features your game needs to be fun. It's often fewer than you think! Paring a game down to its basic mechanics has many advantages. It stops you from getting stuck in development, working on features too complex for your skill level. It ensures that you make visible progress towards a concrete end goal. And best of all, it allows you to focus on the core mechanics to make sure your gameplay alone is engaging.