---
name: portfolio-originality
description: Originality gate for studios that ship many similar mobile games - score a planned or finished game against the studio's own catalogue (mechanic, content, art, metadata, screenshots), require a clear differentiator, and suggest merging thin ideas, to avoid App Store Guideline 4.3 (spam) and Play repetitive content rejections. Use before starting a new game, before submitting one, or after a 4.3 / "repetitive content" rejection.
---

# Portfolio originality (Guideline 4.3 gate)

Apple 4.3 and Play's repetitive content policy reject apps that are near-copies of other apps, **including your own**.
Studios with a template engine hit this first. Run this gate twice: before building (idea stage) and before submitting.

## Inputs
- The new game: one-paragraph pitch, core loop, controls, progression, art direction, the planned listing (name,
  subtitle, short description, keywords, screenshot captions).
- The catalogue: the same for every game the studio has published or submitted (store links are fine).

## Score each pair (new game vs each catalogue game), 0 = identical, 2 = clearly different
| axis | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| core mechanic | same verb, same rules | same verb, new rule that changes decisions | different verb / goal |
| content | same levels / items reskinned | new content, same structure | different structure (modes, progression) |
| art and audio | same assets / palette / UI kit | same kit, new theme | own visual identity |
| metadata | same description pattern / keywords | rewritten, same promises | different promise and audience |
| screenshots | same layout and captions | same layout, new captions | different scenes and message |

Total 0-10 per pair. **Below 6 against any catalogue game: stop.** 6-7: ship only with a differentiator a player can
see in the first screenshot. 8+: fine.

## Differentiator test
Write one sentence: "Unlike <our other game>, in <new game> the player <does something they cannot do there>."
If the sentence needs the words "theme", "skin", "colours" or "levels" to work, it is not a differentiator.

## When the score is low
- **Merge** the idea into the existing game as a mode, world or event instead of a new app.
- **Deepen** one axis until it scores 2 (usually mechanic or progression), not five axes a little.
- Never vary only the name, icon and keywords: reviewers compare binaries and screenshots, and that is the pattern
  4.3 describes.
- After a 4.3 rejection: list the concrete differences in the reply (`review-rejections`); if there are none, merge.

## Output for the owner
A table per catalogue game with the five scores, the total, the differentiator sentence, and a recommendation:
ship / ship after <change> / merge into <game>.