Good uses
- Daily interactions in games about caring for a small companion
- A guide character in learning or habit apps that shares in achievements
- Story scenes that show a relationship with a character deepening
01
Classification and repeated action
A stimulus engine is the axis of what invites another action. The visual world is chosen separately as an expression theme.
- Stimulus engine
- Attachment protection
- Repeated action
- Go to see the character and speak to it, stroke it, or help with a small trouble.
- Core loop
- Attachment
- Small crisis
- Worry
- Relief
- Strengthened attachment
- Typical feedback
- Gaze, Short line, Expression variants, Belongings, Memories
Ethical note: Attachment and guilt
Do not pressure a return with lines that blame absence, decline from neglect, or loss of the relationship. Allow rest and return only a welcome when the user comes back.
02
Build the sequence
Design the opening state, the input, the result, and the next actionable state as one sequence.
Opening state
A small original character notices the user and turns its gaze, with one trouble shown that is small enough to help with at once.
Input
Each caring input, such as speaking, stroking, or lending a hand, gets its own blink and change of expression, so the help feels received.
Result and reward
The troubled face turns to relief with a small bounce, the trouble resolves, and the moment is added to the shared record as a memory.
Next actionable state
One small pleasure for the next meeting is previewed, and the scene ends in a state where the user may return anytime and loses nothing by staying away.
03
Feedback across channels
Do not rely on motion or sound alone: every channel should make the change of state readable.
Visual
Visual: show state through gaze, expression variants, and the warmth of the body color or inner light, not through heart counts or affection numbers.
Motion
Motion: the character relaxes step by step with each stroke or touch, and only at the moment of relief does it bounce slightly and nuzzle.
Text, sound, and haptics
Text, sound, and haptics: one short line plus the trouble label, one soft tone, and an optional light haptic only at the nuzzle.
Without motion or audio
Without motion or audio: the trouble label changing to "Solved", a still of the relieved face, and the new memory in the record show the change in the relationship.
04
Production controls
Eight production controls decide the strength and order of the response.
Input
Speak, stroke, care for, or lend a hand with a small trouble. Make one input directed at the character the center of the scene.
Timing
Acknowledge the touch with a blink at once, change the expression one step per stroke, and pace it so relief arrives after about three.
Hit stop
Hold the expression for about 0.1 seconds as the character nuzzles in relief, so the change in the relationship can be read. Never hold on the troubled face or prolong its distress.
Amplification
Let warmth or light spread from the relieved body and undo the cause of the trouble. Keep the spread to places connected to the character and the relationship.
Text
Show one short character line, only for as long as it takes to read. Never write lines that blame absence, plead loneliness, or count down time.
Camera
Stay at the character's eye level and move in only slightly for the nuzzle. Do not shake or pull back suddenly; keep an intimate distance.
Sound & haptics
Layer a soft tone on each touch and resolve it into a warm chord at relief. Keep haptics optional and faint, only at the instant of the nuzzle.
Next expectation
Point to a small pleasure for the next meeting, such as a bud about to bloom or a new side of the character, with no deadline or notification attached.
05
Where it works—and where it fails
Good uses, failure modes, risk, accessibility, and the boundary that keeps the engine from being used to manipulate.
Failure modes
- Pressuring a return with a character that weakens or grieves when left alone
- Putting affection numbers or heart counts up front, turning the relationship into a tally
- Making the trouble so large or serious that the character suffers for a long time before help
Risk
Attachment to a character is a strong motive, so exaggerating its weakness or trouble lets worry outweigh enjoyment and turns the relationship into one the user returns to out of guilt. Decline from neglect or hints of parting hit children and lonely users especially hard.
Accessibility
Convey the change in the relationship not only through expression but also through the trouble label, the "Solved" text, and the memory kept in the record. In reduced-motion mode, replace the bounce and nuzzle with expression changes, and show lines in sufficient contrast for as long as it takes to read them.
Manipulation boundary
Do not pressure a return with lines that blame absence, decline or illness from neglect, or warnings that the relationship will be lost. Allow rest and return only a welcome when the user comes back. Do not design troubles that only paid items can solve or let users buy affection.
06
Watch the interaction grammar
A 6-second vertical 1080×1920, 30 fps specimen with no audio, and a text alternative of what it shows.
A snowy day at the foot of a big tree. A small resident called "Pokka" (a round body with a light inside) has come home with a basket of berries, but its door is covered in ice and icicles and will not open when it tugs the handle. It shivers and puffs white breath; at the top are "Pokka", "Freezing", and "Trouble: the door is frozen shut". A finger comes in from the right, touches Pokka's head, and strokes it left and right three times. Each finished stroke warms its body and the light in its chest by one step (one of three small flames at the top lights up), frost falls from its head, and the shivering gets smaller. On the third stroke the shivering stops, it becomes "Toasty", and Pokka closes its eyes and nuzzles the finger, holding for 0.1 second. The warmth of its light spreads as a ring: wherever it reaches, snow melts into grass, the icicles and the ice on the door melt, the door swings open, room light falls on the grass, and the window lights up ("Solved: the door opened"). A bud pushes up from the thawed ground. Pokka hops for joy, and the nuzzling moment becomes a photo that goes to the front of "Our record" at the bottom as the fifth photo, "Snow day" (the others are "Starry night", "Acorn", "Rain shelter", and "The day we met"). Finally Pokka points at the bud and says "When it blooms, let's see it together", and the finger comes in from the right to hover by the bud. There are no words blaming absence and no heart counts.
Generated examples for this engine
- Attachment protection × Small companions — 6-second high-stimulus motion
08
Creator-ready English prompt
A production brief you can hand directly to an AI model or a production team.
Written for this guide from the specimen and the classification; it is not the original generation prompt.
Produce a 6-second vertical UI motion sample that uses the Attachment protection stimulus engine.
Repeated action: Speak, stroke, care for, or lend a hand with a small trouble. Make one input directed at the character the center of the scene.
Opening state: A small original character notices the user and turns its gaze, with one trouble shown that is small enough to help with at once.
Trigger and timing: Acknowledge the touch with a blink at once, change the expression one step per stroke, and pace it so relief arrives after about three.
Hit stop: Hold the expression for about 0.1 seconds as the character nuzzles in relief, so the change in the relationship can be read. Never hold on the troubled face or prolong its distress.
Amplification: Let warmth or light spread from the relieved body and undo the cause of the trouble. Keep the spread to places connected to the character and the relationship.
Text: Show one short character line, only for as long as it takes to read. Never write lines that blame absence, plead loneliness, or count down time.
Camera: Stay at the character's eye level and move in only slightly for the nuzzle. Do not shake or pull back suddenly; keep an intimate distance.
Sound and haptics: Layer a soft tone on each touch and resolve it into a warm chord at relief. Keep haptics optional and faint, only at the instant of the nuzzle.
Next promise: Point to a small pleasure for the next meeting, such as a bud about to bloom or a new side of the character, with no deadline or notification attached.
Without motion or audio: the trouble label changing to "Solved", a still of the relieved face, and the new memory in the record show the change in the relationship.
Accessibility: Convey the change in the relationship not only through expression but also through the trouble label, the "Solved" text, and the memory kept in the record. In reduced-motion mode, replace the bounce and nuzzle with expression changes, and show lines in sufficient contrast for as long as it takes to read them.
Ethical boundary: Do not pressure a return with lines that blame absence, decline or illness from neglect, or warnings that the relationship will be lost. Allow rest and return only a welcome when the user comes back. Do not design troubles that only paid items can solve or let users buy affection.
Keep enough contrast for text and primary UI, and make the meaning clear in reduced-motion and no-audio settings.
Create original abstract subjects. Do not imitate existing works, characters, logos, brands, or proprietary UI.