Understanding the audience for your game matters and building community in the gaming industry by creating vertical slices can help garner valuable information, secure funding, and generate early interest in your game. 

What is a Vertical Slice in Game Development?

In game development, a vertical slice is a fully functional, small section of a game that demonstrates a representative sample of the game's features, mechanics, and overall experience. This slice includes integrated gameplay, art, audio, and other elements to show how they will appear in the final product. Key aspects of a vertical slice include:

• Representative Sample: It presents core elements of the game, providing a snapshot of the final experience.

• Proof of Concept: It serves as a proof of concept for stakeholders, demonstrating the game's potential and feasibility.

• Testing and Feedback: It allows developers to test and refine the game, gathering valuable input early in the development process.

• Resource Allocation: It helps with planning and resource allocation by identifying potential challenges and required resources for full game development.

• Investor and Publisher Demos: It is often used to secure funding or publishing deals by showing a polished, playable game segment.

Overall, a vertical slice of a game is an important tool in the game development process, helping align the team’s vision, test ideas, and present the game to external parties.

Creating a Prototype vs. Developing a Vertical Slice: Key Differences

While both prototypes and vertical slices are essential in game development, they serve different purposes and stages of the process. 

• Purpose and Scope: A prototype focuses on testing and validating specific game mechanics, ideas, or concepts. It's a rough, early version of the game used to explore gameplay feasibility and gather initial reactions. In contrast, a vertical slice is a polished, small segment of the game including all core elements like gameplay, art, audio, and UI, representing a microcosm of the final product and displaying how the complete game will look and feel.

• Level of Detail: A prototype is low-fidelity and may lack detailed graphics, sound, and comprehensive functionality. The emphasis is on experimenting with mechanics and concepts rather than presentation. Vertical slices are high-fidelity and nearly indistinguishable from the final game in quality and presentation. They include detailed assets, polished mechanics, and integrated features.

• Development Stage: Prototypes are created early in the development process to test ideas and make design decisions. They help identify what works and what doesn’t before committing significant resources. Vertical slice game development happens after prototyping, once core mechanics and concepts are established. It refines and showcases a sample of the game.

• Audience: Prototypes are for internal use by the development team to experiment and iterate on game mechanics and concepts. Vertical slicing is intended for a broader audience, including stakeholders, investors, publishers, and players, to demonstrate the game’s aptitude and ability to get funded. 

• Feedback and Iteration: Prototypes are tools for learning and discovery and focus on rapid evaluations to refine core gameplay mechanics. These serve as a benchmark for the final game’s quality and overall experience

How Can a Vertical Slice Benefit Your Game Development Process?

• Identifying Technical and Design Challenges Early: Creating a vertical slice allows the development team to handle design challenges, mitigating risks before full-scale production. This helps streamline the development process, ensuring smoother progress and fewer surprises later.

• Marketing and Feedback: A vertical slice provides a game sample, which is invaluable for marketing and attracting potential players. It also facilitates gathering meaningful responses from testers, informing improvements and refinements.

• Securing Funding: Presenting a vertical slice to investors and publishers demonstrates the game’s potential and feasibility, making it easier to secure support and financing. A high-quality, playable segment showcases the team’s capability and vision, instilling investor confidence.

Common Challenges Faced in Implementing Vertical Slicing for Games

• Resource Allocation: Implementing a vertical slice requires significant resources, including time, money, and skilled personnel. Balancing these demands while maintaining progress on other parts of the game can strain the development team and budget.

• Technical Hurdles: Developing a vertical slice involves integrating all game elements,  including vertical slicing architecture that might uncover complex technical issues. Addressing these challenges early on is important but can be time-consuming and may require substantial problem-solving.

How to Create a Vertical Slice for Your Game?

• Identify Core Features: Identifying core features and mechanics that are essential to your game's experience. Focus on elements that best represent the overall gameplay, visual style, and narrative.

• Plan and Design: Create a detailed plan and design document outlining the scope of your vertical slice. This should include goals, required assets, and a timeline to ensure the project stays on track.

• Develop and Polish: Begin development by integrating all identified core features, ensuring they work seamlessly together. Pay close attention to detail, polishing the visuals, audio, and user interface to reflect the final game's quality.

• Test and Refine: Conduct thorough testing to identify and fix any bugs or issues. Gather feedback from testers to refine and improve the vertical slice, ensuring it accurately represents the player experience.

Utilizing Vertical Slices to Showcase Game Features

Using vertical slices to showcase game features is a development strategy. A vertical slice provides an operating segment of the game. With just a small part of the game, developers can increase their chances of obtaining financing. 

Importance of Player Engagement in Your Vertical Slice Demo

A well-received vertical slice can boost the game's chances of success by proving its potential to a wider audience. Player engagement in your demo provides immediate opinions revealing what captivates or frustrates players. High engagement levels indicate the game can retain players' interest in its full version. An engaging demo generates buzz, attracting attention. 

Why Indie Game Developers Should Embrace a Vertical Slice Approach

• Proof of Concept: Indie game developers should embrace a vertical slice approach because it serves as a proof of concept, showing a refined version of the game. 

• Early Feedback: An advantage of creating a vertical slice is the ability to gather reactions from players and stakeholders. This allows developers to save time and resources by addressing problems before production begins. 

• Marketing: A vertical slice crafted with care is an effective marketing tool, generating interest. By offering a preview of the final game, it helps secure funding 

How Creating a Vertical Slice Can Help Secure Funding for Your Game

• Demonstrating Potential: A vertical slice showcases the game's potential by highlighting core mechanics, art style, and overall vision in a polished, playable form.

• Professional Presentation: It provides a professional presentation, providing investors and publishers with an example of what the final game will be.

• Successful Campaigns: A well-executed vertical slice can lead to successful crowdfunding or investor campaigns by generating excitement and demonstrating the game’s viability.

Conclusion

Sanlo Capital caters to game companies and can help you access up to $1 million in game financing without relinquishing control of your business. With our data-driven approach, funding offers can be approved within hours. Benefit from transparent fees and a straightforward payment schedule, without confusing formulas or hidden charges. You can get custom growth capital solutions that match your company’s priorities.