Score and Decide: Two Tables, Two Days, One Decision

A true scene first

Ten rows, every one carrying trend and competition labels. Where beginners lose the most here is not choosing wrong — it is choosing forever. Two weeks of comparing, and the golden window closes. This lesson hands you two tables and one discipline: selection races the clock; it is not research.

Step 1: the scorecard (5 minutes per candidate)

Four items, 100 points, 60 and above goes to decision:

Item	Points	How to judge
Enough to write about (hard gate)	25	Enough mechanics, items, bosses for guides? Not enough — score 0 no matter the rest
Popularity evidence	25	Comments, subs, concurrents; dev still updating = window still open
Will players search	25	Do they type “game + wiki / codes”? (Lesson 4’s label)
English content gap	25	Thin English guides = popularity evidence and your open seat at once

Step 2: the decision ledger (your selection asset)

Open the table that follows you for the life of the project:

Game | Found date | Trend | Competition | Score | Decision (build/drop/consider) | Decision date | Site link

Three usage rules:

“Build” rows: fill the decision date; every later lesson’s output hangs on this row.
“Drop” rows: write one line of why (crowded / fading / can’t write it). Six months on, these reasons are your most valuable experience.
“Consider” rows: not a graveyard — a schedule. Recheck the trend the next day; two weeks without a rise, flip to “drop”. Never let “consider” pile up unbounded.

Step 3: the two iron rules

60+ points AND competition “open/beatable” = start now. There is no “compare a bit more” option.
From starting selection to decision: 2 days maximum. When time’s up, take the highest score on the table — the biggest cost of selection is time.

Let AI run the whole funnel (recommended)

Feed the real material to AI (ZCode / Claude Code / Codex, or web ChatGPT), replace every <> and paste it whole:

You are a game wiki selection analyst. Evaluate this candidate through a four-layer funnel: discovery → scoring → demand validation → competition validation.
[Material]
Game: <game name>
Google Trends: <paste or describe "{game} codes/wiki" vs the baseline query>
Google page one: <paste "{game} wiki" and "{game} codes" result lists, one line each>
Other signals: <YouTube views / Roblox concurrents / community buzz — whatever you have>
[Tasks]
1. Scorecard (0-100, ≥60 passes): content depth (hard gate) / social proof / title search-friendliness / English content gap
2. Demand validation: read the three things (level / slope / cycle); does the two-source rule hold
3. Competition: judge each page-one result open / beatable / drop, and name the gatekeeper's weakness
4. Intent satisfaction: how many results truly answer the player's question
5. Verdict: build / consider / drop / watch a week, with reasons in three lines or fewer
Analysis only — write no files. List anything missing and ask me.

Note the last line: during selection AI advises only; it never touches your repo. The person deciding is you.

Three classic mistakes (made for you in advance)

Endless comparing: two candidates both at 60 — take the one with the emptier results page and start today.
Oscillating at 59 vs 61: the default move is always “drop, next row”. The pool has more.
Selecting without recording: a choice that never enters the ledger never happened. This table is the base document for your later retrospectives and your second site.

Three words to know (just these)

Hard gate: enough to write about. Fail this and the score is meaningless.
Decision ledger: your selection register — every candidate’s book of life and death.
Commit: a build/drop decision with a date on it. Undated decisions don’t count.

✅ Acceptance (all must hold)

At least one candidate row reads “build”, with its score and two pieces of popularity evidence
The decision ledger exists, and every “drop” row has a reason
☐ Start to decision took no more than 2 days

Next lesson

Decided “build” — so what do you write tomorrow morning? Next lesson turns the verdict into a 10-row writing plan, so day one starts with real work. Go to Lesson 8 · The Day-One 10-Page List