Juice Before Content

9. "Juice" Before Content (Feel Is Free, Content Is Expensive)

Adding more levels/enemies cost memory. Improving how the existing ones felt (screen shake, sound effects, hit-pause, acceleration curves) cost almost nothing in bytes but massively changed perceived quality.

Rule of thumb: When a prototype feels flat, the fix is rarely "add more stuff." Tune the verb first — jump arc, input responsiveness, feedback on hits — before adding scope. This is why Miyamoto reportedly spent enormous time just on Mario's walk/jump physics before designing a single level.