1. MVP Philosophy

What v1 MUST do:

• Prove the day/night loop is fun in under 5 minutes of play
• Show the cause mirror working (actions map to real malaria prevention)
• Demonstrate rewarded video drives real impact (net counter ticks up)
• Create emotional attachment to 4 named families in 10 seconds

What v1 INTENTIONALLY defers:

• Chorus Circles (social/guilds)
• IAP cosmetics and themes
• Chorus+ subscription
• Android build (iOS only v1)
• Multi-charity partner selector
• Full AMF data API integration (manual cause updates OK for launch)
• Cross-village mechanics
• Seasonal events

The test: A new player downloads, plays 5 minutes, and says either "I want to protect those families again tomorrow" or "meh." v1 exists to get that reaction.

2. Day 1 Experience — First 5 Minutes (Scene by Scene)

Scene 1: First Launch → Tutorial Village (0:00-0:30)

What player sees:

• App opens to a small village on a hill — warm golden light, stardew-valley aesthetic
• 4 homes visible, each with a family:
  • The Mensah family (grandmother + mother + boy Kwame)
  • The Kofi family (father + mother + girl Ama)
  • The Diallo family (elderly couple)
  • The Kamara family (young couple, pregnant mother)
• A community well in the center
• A murky green pool at the bottom of the hill (stagnant water — danger)

Tutorial overlay text: "Welcome to your village. These families need your help."

Player action: None yet. Just look.

Scene 2: First Action — Net the Mensah Home (0:30-1:00)

What player sees:

• One home (Mensah) has a subtle open-window indicator (no net)
• Tapping it highlights with a soft glow
• A net icon appears in a bottom tray — player drags net onto home

The animation (CRITICAL — must be excellent):

1. Net unfurls over the home — soft whoosh sound
2. Shimmer effect ripples across the net — like light through mosquito net material
3. The home's windows glow soft blue-white
4. Speech bubble from Kwame: "Thank you!" with a little wave
5. Cause meter ticks: +5 Cause Points

This moment plants the seed. 10 seconds. Player knows the family, protected them, saw the cause impact.

Scene 3: Daytime Actions — The Queue (1:00-3:00)

Player sees their action queue:

• 🏊 Drain the pool (murky green at bottom of hill) — tap to start drain
• 💊 Treat sick (none yet — will appear after night)
• 🏗️ Build — not yet unlocked

Action 1: Drain the Pool

• Player taps the murky pool
• Animation: water swirls, drains through a channel, murky green clears to brown earth
• Larvae sprites visible being swept away
• Cause meter: +3 Cause Points

Resource gathering:

• Player taps the well — collects water supplies
• Taps a small resource icon in corner — sees they've earned 10 Drops (currency)

By end of daytime: Player has drained the pool, netted the Mensah home, collected resources. The village looks slightly different — cleaner, safer.

Scene 4: Night Falls (3:00-3:30)

Transition:

• Sky dims from warm gold to deep indigo
• Stars appear
• Sound design shifts: crickets, low hum
• Alert: "Night is falling. The mosquitoes are coming."

What player sees:

• Village at night — windows glowing warm yellow
• Mosquito sprites appear at screen edges, moving toward homes
• 3 wave indicators at top: Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3

Scene 5: Night Defense — Wave 1 (3:30-4:00)

The mechanic (Flappy Bird territory):

• Single mosquito approaches the Mensah home
• Player taps to swat — satisfying thwap sound + sparkle burst
• Mosquito splatters — +1 score floats up
• Home shows green shield briefly (held)

Tutorial hint: "Tap to swat mosquitoes before they reach the homes!"

Wave 2: Two mosquitoes, different paths. Player taps both. Success.

Wave 3: Three mosquitoes. One gets through to the Diallo home (no net yet). Red flash. Sick villager indicator appears on that home.

Scene 6: Dawn Reveal (4:00-5:00)

The animation (CRITICAL — emotional payoff):

• Slow sunrise — golden light sweeps across village
• Each protected home glows soft gold as light touches it
• Families emerge: Mensah grandmother steps out, stretches
• The breached home (Diallo) shows a red sick indicator

Tally screen:

• 3/4 homes protected
• 1 family member needs treatment
• +18 Cause Points earned tonight

Cause meter visible: Shows progress toward first net (e.g., "87/200 Cause Points to your first bed net")

Social share prompt (optional):

• Auto-generates card: "My village: 3/4 protected tonight. Join me in the fight against malaria."

First Session Complete

Player has experienced:

• 4 named families they now recognize
• The protective joy of netting a home (animation)
• The urgency of night defense (tap mechanic)
• The emotional dawn reveal
• Cause points accumulating toward a real net
• A reason to come back tomorrow

That's the MVP. Everything else builds on this.

3. Core Loop — The Daily Repeat

Every Session Looks Like This:

OPEN APP
    │
    ▼
DAWN REVEAL (30 sec)
    │ ───► See which homes held overnight
    │ ───► See who got sick
    │ ───► Check cause meter progress
    │
    ▼
DAYTIME ACTIONS (5-10 min)
    │
    ├──► Drain any new stagnant pools (spawned overnight)
    ├──► Net any unprotected homes (priority: families without nets)
    ├──► Treat sick villagers (from last night's breaches)
    ├──► Collect resources (well, trees, etc.)
    ├──► [OPTIONAL] Watch rewarded ad → +Cause Points +Resources
    │
    ▼
NIGHTFALL TRANSITION (10 sec)
    │
    ▼
NIGHT DEFENSE (1-3 min)
    │
    ├──► Waves 1-8 escalate in difficulty
    ├──► Tap/swipe to swat mosquitoes
    ├──► Net quality provides passive defense
    ├──► Some homes will breach — that's OK
    │
    ▼
DAWN REVEAL → NEXT DAY

Day/Night Timing:

• Real-time option: Night falls at player's local 8pm-2am (actual mosquito hours)
• Accelerated option: 5-minute day → 1-minute night cycle for players who want faster gameplay
• v1 default: Accelerated (daytime 5 min, night 1-2 min) — faster for testing

4. GDevelop Build Scope — What Actually Gets Built

Scenes (v1)

Scene	Purpose	Complexity
MainVillage	The village map with 4 homes, well, pool	Medium
NightDefense	The tap/swat mosquito game	High (wave logic)
DawnReveal	Sunrise animation + tally	Medium
TutorialOverlay	First-launch instructions	Low
CauseMeter	Global impact display (persistent UI)	Low
PauseMenu	Settings, sound, rewarded ad trigger	Low

Objects (v1)

Object Type	Count	Examples
Homes	4	Mensah, Kofi, Diallo, Kamara — each with family name, health state
Characters	12+	Family members with simple sprites, sick/healthy states
Environmental	5	Well, pool (drained + full states), brush, path, community center
Mosquitoes	4 types	Basic, darting, grouped, stealth — introduced gradually
UI Elements	15+	Cause meter, resource counter, wave indicator, health bars

Events/Logic (v1)

System	Description
Day/Night Cycle	Timer-based scene switch + sky color tween
Pool Drain	Tap → animation → state change → cause points
Home Net	Drag net → shimmer animation → home protected flag
Treat Sick	Tap sick home → sparkle animation → villager healed
Mosquito Wave Spawner	Wave 1-8 with increasing count/speed
Swat Detection	Tap collision with mosquito hitbox
Home Breach	Mosquito reaches home → health decrement → sick state
Cause Point Accumulator	All actions add to counter → milestone check
Save/Load	Local storage for village state, cause points, day count

v1 vs v2 Scope Split

Feature	v1	v2
Village homes	4	10-15
Family names	4 fixed	Unlock more
Daytime actions	3 (drain, net, treat)	+Clear brush, build
Mosquito types	1 (basic)	4 (basic, darting, group, stealth)
Night waves	3	8+
Cause meter	Visible, manual update	Auto-connected to revenue
Rewarded ads	1 placement (end of day)	Multiple triggers
IAP/Cosmetics	None	Full store
Social sharing	Basic card	Full wrapped stats
AMF integration	Text attribution	Real distribution data
Platform	iOS	+Android

5. Impact Integration — Cause Meter in v1

The Cause Meter Display:

• Persistent bar at top of village screen
• Shows: "X / 200 Cause Points → 1 Bed Net"
• Fills with gold as points accumulate
• Subtle pulse animation when points are earned

How Points Accumulate (v1)

Action	Cause Points
Net a home	+5
Drain a pool	+3
Treat sick villager	+2
Survive night wave	+1 per wave
Watch rewarded ad	+15

Milestone Celebration (v1)

When meter hits 200:

1. Screen brightens with gold
2. Text: "Your first bed net is funded!"
3. Small animation: a net shimmer cascades across the village
4. Counter: "You have funded 1 real bed net through AMF"
5. Attribution: AMF logo + "nets funded: 1"
6. Share prompt

v1 limitation: This is manual/cosmetic. Real revenue tracking and AMF distribution trigger happens outside game (Gin monitors, triggers milestone manually). v2 automates this.

6. Monetization in v1 — Rewarded Video Only

Placement:

• End-of-day prompt: After dawn reveal, soft prompt: "Double tonight's Cause Points?" → Watch Ad → +15 bonus
• Resource drought: If player runs low on nets/medicine: "Watch to restock"
• Frequency cap: 5 rewarded ads per day max per player

v1 Ad Stack:

• Network: AdMob via GDevelop native extension
• Format: Rewarded video (15-30 sec)
• CPM target: $20+ (launch in US/UK tier-1 markets)

v1 Revenue Assumption:

• If 10K DAU, 3 ads/day avg = 30K impressions/day
• At $20 CPM = $600/day → $18K/month
• 70% to cause fund = ~$12,600/month → 6,300 nets/month funded

What v1 Does NOT Include:

• ❌ Interstitial ads (disruptive, not aligned with cause-first UX)
• ❌ Banner ads (clutters village view)
• ❌ IAP cosmetics
• ❌ Chorus+ subscription
• ❌ Brand sponsorships

v1 focus: Prove rewarded video works, cause meter fills, players watch ads for impact.

7. What v1 Deliberately EXCLUDES

Feature	Reason Deferred
Chorus Circles (guilds)	Requires backend, social graph, moderation. Not core to proving the loop.
IAP Cosmetics	Need baseline retention first. Can't optimize cosmetics without DAU data.
Chorus+ Subscription	Need baseline ad revenue first. Subscription is a retention play for v2.
Android Build	Ship iOS first, prove metrics, then replicate. Faster iteration.
Multi-charity Partner	AMF is confirmed. Don't complicate with multi-partner until v2.
Full AMF Data API	Manual milestone triggers fine for v1 launch. Automate in v2.
Family Events (births, anniversaries)	Nice to have. Core loop (protect/defend) is the priority.
Clear Brush Action	3 daytime actions is enough for v1. More in v2.
Stealth/Darting Mosquitoes	Basic mosquito is enough to prove night defense mechanic.
Village Expansion beyond 4 homes	Lock expansion for v2. 4 homes = focused emotional attachment.

8. Build Timeline Estimate

Using GDevelop AI Agent

Week	Milestone
Week 1	Project setup, village grid, 4 homes with families
Week 2	Netting animation + treat animation (critical feel)
Week 3	Daytime actions (drain pool, collect resources)
Week 4	Night defense core (wave spawner, tap detection, breach logic)
Week 5	Dawn reveal animation + cause meter display
Week 6	Rewarded video integration (AdMob)
Week 7	Tutorial overlay + first-play flow
Week 8	Save/load system + polish
Week 9	iOS export + TestFlight

Honest Assessment:

• Best case: 6 weeks (if AI Agent is efficient and no major roadblocks)
• Realistic: 8-9 weeks (including testing + iteration)
• Buffer: Add 2 weeks → 10 weeks to MVP

What Speeds This Up:

• GDevelop AI Agent creating events from prompts
• Simple 2D art (can use placeholders initially)
• Focused scope (4 homes, 3 actions, basic night mode)

What Slows This Down:

• Animation polish (the netting shimmer must feel magical)
• AdMob integration quirks
• iOS App Store compliance

9. 🚧 GIN DECIDES — Decisions Before Build

Before Max can start in GDevelop, Gin must confirm:

Summary — Can We Build This?

The v1 MVP is:

• 4 named families on a village map
• 3 daytime actions (drain, net, treat)
• 3-wave night defense (tap to swat)
• Dawn reveal animation with cause meter
• Rewarded video ads that fill the cause meter
• Manual milestone celebrations

This is buildable in GDevelop by Max using AI Agent.

The unknowns are the 3 decisions above. Once Gin says "yes, build this with [title], [partner strategy], [timing preference]," Max starts Week 1.