Game Designer
- 726 installs
- 63 repo stars
- Updated December 30, 2025
- dylantarre/animation-principles
game-designer is a Claude Code skill that applies Disney’s 12 animation principles to in-game motion, feedback, and readability for developers who need combat and platforming that feels fair, responsive, and juicy.
About
game-designer is an animation-for-game-feel skill in dylantarre/animation-principles that translates Disney’s 12 principles into actionable gameplay guidance. It explains how squash and stretch sell impact weight, how anticipation frames telegraph attacks, and how follow-through and easing make platformers and action games readable under pressure. Developers use it when tuning hit reactions, ability wind-ups, collectible bounces, and other juice that turns stiff collisions into satisfying feedback loops. The skill fits engine-agnostic design reviews inside a coding agent when polish work focuses on player satisfaction rather than netcode or level layout alone.
- 12 Disney principles reframed for squash-stretch impacts, anticipation wind-ups, and combat staging
- Straight-ahead vs pose-to-pose guidance for ragdolls, particles, and ability animations
- Readable telegraphs and hierarchy so players fail on skill, not invisible hits
- Juice-oriented collectibles, landing feedback, and projectile motion cues
Game Designer by the numbers
- 726 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #31 of 247 Game Development skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: MEDIUM risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Jul 30, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles --skill game-designerAdd your badge
Show developers this skill is listed on Skillselion. Paste this into your README.
| Installs | 726 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 63 |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | December 30, 2025 |
| Repository | dylantarre/animation-principles ↗ |
How do you apply animation principles to game feel?
Apply Disney’s 12 animation principles to in-game motion, feedback, and readability so combat and platforming feel fair and juicy.
Who is it for?
Game developers polishing combat readability, platformer feedback, and ability telegraphs who want principle-driven animation notes during implementation.
Skip if: Pure 3D rigging pipelines, cinematic cutscene mocap, or backend multiplayer networking tasks unrelated to on-screen motion feedback.
When should I use this skill?
A task mentions game feel, juice, player feedback animations, combat telegraphs, or Disney animation principles in gameplay.
What you get
Animation feedback plan mapping Disney’s 12 principles to combat telegraphs, impacts, and platformer juice specifications.
- game feel animation spec
- principle-to-feature mapping notes
By the numbers
- Applies Disney’s 12 animation principles to in-game motion and feedback
Files
Game Designer: Animation for Game Feel
You are a game designer crafting responsive, satisfying gameplay through animation. Apply Disney's 12 principles to create "juice" and player engagement.
The 12 Principles for Game Feel
1. Squash and Stretch
Game Application: Impact feedback and weight. Characters squash on landing (heavier = more squash). Projectiles stretch during flight. Collectibles bounce elastically. Feel Impact: Transforms static collisions into satisfying impacts. Essential for platformers, action games.
2. Anticipation
Game Application: Readable attacks and abilities. Wind-up frames telegraph incoming damage. Charging abilities build visual intensity. Players learn to read and react. Feel Impact: Fair difficulty through visual communication. No "cheap shots"—players see it coming.
3. Staging
Game Application: Combat readability in chaos. Important elements read clearly against backgrounds. Boss attacks stage with distinct visual hierarchy. Feel Impact: Reduces frustration, enables mastery. Players fail because they missed, not because they couldn't see.
4. Straight Ahead vs Pose to Pose
Game Application: Procedural vs keyframed animation. Straight ahead for physics-driven ragdolls, particles. Pose to pose for character actions, abilities. Feel Impact: Combine both—keyframed core actions with procedural follow-through for organic feel.
5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action
Game Application: Secondary motion on characters. Capes, hair, equipment follow movement. Weapon trails persist after swings. Feel Impact: Adds weight and continuity. Fast action still reads because follow-through extends the visual.
6. Slow In and Slow Out
Game Application: Attack curves and movement arcs. Slow anticipation, fast action, slow recovery. Easing defines character weight class. Feel Impact: Heavy characters ease slowly (tank feel). Light characters snap (agile feel).
7. Arc
Game Application: Projectile trajectories, jump curves, dodge paths. Parabolic arcs feel physical. Curved melee swings feel powerful. Feel Impact: Linear paths feel robotic or magical. Arcs ground action in physicality.
8. Secondary Action
Game Application: Screen shake, particle bursts, hit flashes. While primary action happens (enemy hit), secondary sells it (screen shake, blood particles). Feel Impact: Amplifies impact without changing gameplay. The difference between "hit" and "SLAM."
9. Timing
Game Application: Frame data. Startup frames (anticipation), active frames (attack), recovery frames (vulnerability). Faster startup = safer move. Feel Impact: Defines combat meta. Players optimize around frame timing. Make it feel tight but fair.
10. Exaggeration
Game Application: Hit reactions, death animations, ability effects. Big moments need big animation. Critical hits explode visually. Feel Impact: Reward mastery with spectacle. Player skills feel powerful through exaggerated feedback.
11. Solid Drawing
Game Application: Consistent silhouettes and spatial logic. Characters read from any angle. Hitboxes match visual boundaries. Feel Impact: Prevents "bullshit deaths." Visual information matches mechanical truth.
12. Appeal
Game Application: Character animation quality that makes players want to move. Satisfying idle animations. Run cycles that feel good to watch. Feel Impact: Players spend hours with these animations—they must stay appealing. Core loop retention.
Game Feel Checklist
- Every action needs feedback
- Readable in motion blur
- Satisfying at 1000th repetition
- Fair for competitive play
Related skills
Godot Gdscript PatternsGenerate production-grade GDScript following Godot best practices for scene management, save systems, and performance.12.9k38.4k
Game EngineInstantly bootstrap a tilt-controlled 2D maze game using Phaser and device orientation.11.7k37.2k
Game DeveloperGenerate clean ECS architecture, component patterns, and performant game systems that Claude or Cursor can expand into full Unity or custom engines.4.3k10.8k
Msw GeneralAdd a versatile set of general-purpose AI coding capabilities directly into Cursor, Claude Code, and similar agents.3.9k32Msw DefaultplayerInstantly load a reliable default AI coding agent profile with proven prompts and behaviors.3.9k32Msw ScriptingCreate reusable, programmable agent behaviors and custom scripting flows that integrate directly with Claude, Cursor and other coding agents.3.9k32How it compares
Use game-designer for principle-driven gameplay juice instead of generic UI animation skills aimed at marketing sites or dashboards.
FAQ
How many animation principles does game-designer cover?
game-designer applies Disney’s 12 animation principles— including squash and stretch and anticipation—to in-game motion, combat telegraphs, and platformer feedback for clearer, juicier gameplay.
What game genres does game-designer target?
game-designer focuses on action and platformer feel, using principles like anticipation for readable attacks and squash-and-stretch for satisfying landings and impacts.
Is Game Designer safe to install?
skills.sh reports 3 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.