My friend and I are making a video game. Occasionally we want to release little tech demos that demonstrate our progress. A demo would not at all be the finished game, but would rather show off some part of the engine that we have completed.
At first we called these demos, but we are afraid that the word demo implies that they represent the finished product. Is there a good single word that refers to a little mini-program that demonstrates progress but is not the finished product?
Best Answer
I suggest calling them pilots, even though that's more commonly used to denote sample episodes of a proposed TV series. Also, as each of these technical demonstrations illustrates some new aspect or feature of your game engine, consider the word featurette, which refers to "a relatively short feature film". You might also consider words like highlighter, showcase, exhibit, and proof-of-concept.