Most software projects begin with a document nobody finishes reading. Ours begin with five lines. Before we open a design file or write a line of code, we make every project — an app, a game, a client build — fit into five sentences. If it doesn't fit, it isn't ready to start.
The five-line brief
It's exactly what the studio is named for. Five lines, no more:
- The idea — what this is, in one plain sentence.
- The user — who it's for, specifically, not "everyone."
- The screens — the two or three views that actually matter.
- The brand — the one feeling it should leave behind.
- The ship date — when it stops being an idea and becomes real.
That's the whole brief. You can write it on an index card, and if you can't, the thinking isn't done yet.
Constraint beats more planning
The instinct, when something feels unclear, is to add: another page of spec, another feature, another meeting. We do the opposite. The five-line limit forces the hard decisions early — what to leave out, who not to build for, which screen is the whole product and which are decoration. Most software fails by addition. Five lines is a budget you have to spend wisely.
It also kills scope creep before it starts. When a new request shows up mid-build, it has to earn its place against the five lines that are already there. Usually it doesn't.
Two temperaments, one method
We build under two banners. Studio Pro is for precise, calm software — the kind of app that does one thing exactly right. Studio Play is for games that are louder and a little stranger. They look nothing alike, but they start identically: five lines. The brief for a card battler like Mythics TCG and the brief for a focused desktop tool use the same five fields — only the answers change.
If an app can't explain itself in five lines, it isn't finished being designed.
Why it ships
Clarity up front is what lets us move fast without shipping junk. The five lines become the test for everything after them: every screen, every feature, every cut. When we're unsure, we go back and read the card. It's a small ritual, but it's the reason a small studio can ship real things.
Have something that fits in five lines? Bring us your idea — we'll bring the other four.