Design Statement
We could not listen to the track, so we measured it: one minute in F minor at about 60 beats a minute, a quiet and sparse opening, a sudden turn at 21 seconds when the whole ensemble arrives at once, and a held chord at the end that never resolves. SKEIN turns those three parts into three acts. ALONE: a single goose in the dusk, finding the others by their calls; each goose that joins brings one more instrument into the score, so the music grows as the flock does. THE FLYWAY: when all seven are together the night opens, the full arrangement arrives, and the flight becomes fast and shared. ARRIVAL: the skein comes down onto the dawn sea under an unresolved chord. The 60 BPM pulse is the wingbeat: a wingbeat on the pulse is stronger, and handing over the lead on the pulse keeps the line clean. The front bird works hardest and tires, so the core choice is when to let another lead. Nothing is ever hurt; a tired goose simply comes down to rest.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
Play in the browser on the itch page (press Run game), or download the Windows build, unzip it and run SKEIN.exe (no install). Beat your wings: Space, Z or Enter, left click, tap, or gamepad A. A beat on the pulse (the small lamp at the top swells on every beat) is stronger and cheaper. Climb and dive: arrows or W S, the mouse above or below the lead goose, drag, or the left stick. Hand over the lead: X or Shift, right click, the LEAD button on touch, or gamepad B. Esc or P pauses, M mutes, F fullscreen. Act I: fly close to the calling geese to gather all seven. Act II: hold the V so the birds behind can draft, ride the wind rivers, give the lead to a rested bird before a headwind, and keep the skein together through the storm. Act III: glide down onto the dawn sea. One flight is about three minutes; the result shows how many of the seven came home.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://github.com/onefreeman1337/csaf-releases/releases/download/skein-v1.0.0/skein_walkthrough.mp4

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Yes. This game contains AI-generated content. The code, the goose sprites, the clouds and every word of text were written with AI tools (Claude). The backdrops come from our own Verdant Battlebacks pack, drawn by AI-written procedural code (no image model). The score is original: composed and sequenced by AI-written code and played through sampled instruments (MuseScore General soundfont, MIT licence). No AI audio model generated any sound, and the jam's theme track is not used in the game.