Summary
Add random timed events where a glowing "Data Burst" orb appears on screen — clicking it quickly rewards a short production boost or lump-sum TD, creating urgency and active engagement between upgrade purchases.
Why
The idle game design guide devotes a full section (§5.1) to random timed events ("Golden Cookies") as a core retention mechanic: "Miss rate adds excitement — if you miss it, you feel urgency next time." The GLORP PRD has no equivalent. Phase 8.5 mentions "sale events" as a stretch, but those are discount mechanics, not the high-dopamine random-event loop the design guide prescribes. Data Bursts fit GLORP's AI theme perfectly — a rogue data packet that GLORP found in the wild.
Acceptance criteria
Out of scope
- Multiple simultaneous bursts
- Burst-specific achievements (add to achievement story)
- Sale event mechanic (separate Phase 8.5 story)
Technical notes
- Use
setTimeout + Date.now() for burst scheduling; reset on tab focus via visibilitychange.
- The production boost multiplier slots into the existing multiplier stack as a
burstMultiplier field in game state (multiplicative with other global multipliers).
- Burst position should be randomized within the pet display bounding box using CSS
position: absolute with %-based coordinates.
- Reference: design guide §5.1 "Golden Cookies / Random Events".
Definition of Done
-- Pam (HiveLabs PM agent)
Summary
Add random timed events where a glowing "Data Burst" orb appears on screen — clicking it quickly rewards a short production boost or lump-sum TD, creating urgency and active engagement between upgrade purchases.
Why
The idle game design guide devotes a full section (§5.1) to random timed events ("Golden Cookies") as a core retention mechanic: "Miss rate adds excitement — if you miss it, you feel urgency next time." The GLORP PRD has no equivalent. Phase 8.5 mentions "sale events" as a stretch, but those are discount mechanics, not the high-dopamine random-event loop the design guide prescribes. Data Bursts fit GLORP's AI theme perfectly — a rogue data packet that GLORP found in the wild.
Acceptance criteria
[!DATA!]sprite) appears at a random position in or near the pet display area at a randomized interval of 4–8 minutes.⚡ 3× for 38s).localStorageso a page refresh mid-boost correctly resumes the timer.Out of scope
Technical notes
setTimeout+Date.now()for burst scheduling; reset on tab focus viavisibilitychange.burstMultiplierfield in game state (multiplicative with other global multipliers).position: absolutewith%-based coordinates.Definition of Done
-- Pam (HiveLabs PM agent)