- 01Read both meters
- 02Choose offense or defense
- 03Maintain or release pressure
- 04Use the break window
Posture buildup and break
Combat builds a separate imbalance meter. Reaching its threshold opens a finisher, while relief allows recovery.
The player's decision
Maintain pressure to prevent recovery or retreat to restore your own posture?
Original scenario
Original setup: a healthy enemy is nearly staggered. Continued counters can finish it; retreat lets posture recover.
Start with this prototype
Build a duel with two attacks and visible posture meters. Show recovery conditions and a clear finisher window. Retry defeat instantly; omit equipment progression.
Change one variable
Vary recovery delay to test deliberate offense-defense transitions.
What to observe in a playtest
Can players distinguish health damage from posture changes and understand window expiry?
Take the full design card
Includes rules, scope, tuning questions and sources for further planning. It does not create a project automatically.
Original analysis · version 1
Common pitfall
A second health bar without recovery or a break window loses the pressure decision.
Observations and sources
Cases refer to public documentation. Developers and community wikis are credited separately; document review is not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Official mechanics link broken posture to a Deathblow opportunity.
- Sifu
Both sides have Structure: enemy breaks permit takedowns, while player breaks create vulnerability.
Brief for the studio
Opens the AI studio with the brief below in the input. You can edit it. Nothing starts automatically.
Build a duel with two attacks and visible posture meters. Show recovery conditions and a clear finisher window. Retry defeat instantly; omit equipment progression.
Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.