Exercises 

● 3.10: Conflict (p84) 

Tetris: Gain points by making rows of blocks using a set of variously shaped blocks that are randomly given to you

Frogger: Move onto moving objects while avoiding dangerous obstacles to get to the other side

Bomberman: Move around limited spaces of the map while leaving behind bombs that will strike the areas with empty spaces and potentially destroy block walls

Minesweeper: Clear the square grid of devasting mines without knowing where they are besides a number that informs you how many mines are touching that square

Solitaire: Create 7 ascending decks across from each other and have them hanging out with the top card being the only card facing up. The goal is to create 4 suits while being able to make sets from across other decks with the top card.

● 3.11: Boundaries (p89) 

Within the physical space of the player’s characters, they are only allowed to move distances according to the spaces on the board. Because of this, players have to calculate the distance by how many feet (or whatever measurement they are using) by how many feet each space they pass represents. So when viewing a board with players a few spaces away from a horde of monsters, in the game they are quite far away but still near the players. Conceptually, the board and how the players envision the scene in their mind becomes their world in the game.

● 3.12: Outcome (p90) 

An example of two zero-sum games is Legends of Runeterra and Battleship and an example of two non-zero-sum games is Black Desert Online and Coup. Legends of Runeterra is a tactical-card based game where two players versus each other with their customized deck to deplete the enemy’s nexus’ health points to zero. In Battleship, two players compete to the race of discovering the specific coordinates of the opposing player’s positioned battleships. Both these games have an ending of one player losing and one player winning and so the win condition is a static goal that depends on a player to reach it. Black Desert Online(BDO) is a massively multiplayer online game where players progress by gaining experience to level up and killing monsters to gather the best gear. Coup is a hidden-identity card game with multiple players, each player being able to hold two character identities that individually grant different abilities. The thing is, other players won’t know which character identity you hold, so you are able to do some trickery. Other players can call out on your trickery, but if they are wrong, they will lose a character card. The win condition of Coup is up to any player to achieve, but if one player no longer has any character cards, they are out. The remaining players will benefit from this. “Death” in BDO does not limit the player from playing again, apart from their own mental state.

● 3.13: Revised Rules and Procedures (p90)

One point that I observed from backgammon was how long a game of it could stretch out since a lot of it would rely on the players rolling the correct numbers for them to move, even if they were in Homebase. To shorten these rounds, a lot of backgammon players use a “doubling cube”, a feature that brings in a seven-point score system totaled from each match played and creates three win conditions from each round of backgammon being: one point for getting all your pieces off before your opponent, two points for getting all of them off before your opponent gets any off and three points for getting all of them off before the opponent has moved any into their home base. To decrease the element of luck forcing the player to stay in the middle of the board, another additional rule could be to actually allow the player to move other pieces at the cost of only being able to roll one die.

Reading 

● GDW Chapter 9: Playtesting (pages 271—304) 

"... the one thing all of these forms of playtesting have in common is the end goal: gaining useful feedback from players to improve the overall experience of the game. (pg 271)"

Playtesting/Iterative Design 

From the start of the idea of a game, the game designer must put the player's needs and perspective foremost while maintaining this relationship throughout the stages of the game.

The iterative process of playtesting, which consists of testing, evaluating and revising, allows consistent player input from the start to end. This helps the team stray from the heart of the game. Eventually, as the launch date gets nearer and nearer, so will the refining of your game. It is in the production phase where the foundation of the game is set and where the team will fix issues or add features that are game changing to the game. Playtesting the game when it is "complete" in the beta phase perhaps, makes it hard for fundamental changes to your game to undergo or else the whole time process becomes jumbled, causing your team to release a game that may not live up to its potential.

In the early stages, you are the best beta tester for your game, since you will understand how it functions. This stage is the most important for testing out fundamental concepts and building them and also where you solve issues of player experience.

After this foundation stage, your game should be playable enough to bring in playtesters preferably outside the design team. Since the structure of your game is not set in stone yet, you will have to explain some parts of the game to them. The goal is to create a prototype that requires less explaining as possible. To have as little as objectivity as possible, avoid playtesting with close friends and family after forming the structure of the prototype for fresh insightful criticism. You can find the ideal playtesters by looking into your local community or finding a board demographic of potential playtesters online or in an ad. After that is screening and turning down applicants, so ask questions to sort out which applicants will be useful or not. The ideal playtester is someone who represents your target audience. Remember to have a diverse group of people within your chosen target audience that covers the entire spectrum of consumers for your product.

The main reason to why many released games turn out to be disappointing is because its development team are too close to their game to see it objectively. This is where the iterative process between the game and its players and to have a team that understand this audience is important in knowing what kind of game you are designing.

When first conducting a playtest session, welcome them and introduce yourself, what you are doing and explain a bit of the playtesting process. Have a warm-up discussion (5 minutes) asking about what games they play and what they like about it or what was the last game they bought. During session (15-20 minutes), explain to playtesters that they are playing a prototype and that we need feedback on the game, which will not be based on their skill. Either observe from afar or stand by quietly, but most importantly, have the playtester "think aloud". This might mean the reasons for choices or any uncertainties while playing. Be sure to take notes of when problems occur. It is important to allow the playtester to speak with you impending them and to take potentially harsh criticism without an ego. Because the prototype is still in early stages, you can allow players to test new ideas during that play session and have them offer fresh ideas. After the playtest, you will wrap up the session with a one-on-one discussion, so be prepared with a set of questions, like thoughts on the gameplay, the vertical slide of gameplay, what the objective was, any information that might've made the game less confusing and what the confusion was. When the discussion is over, thank the playtester and even pass them a gift, like a business card or t-shirt. Often times do not take the gathered feedback literally, but as a suggestion that might have a different meaning. These are suggestions you don't have to take, but to keep in mind why the player suggested that. Focus on how to make the game you wish for players to experience and remember to break the rules.

Playtesting Methods:

• One-on-one testing 
• Group testing
• Feedback forms, compare results from a standard list of questions 
• Interview, a verbal quiz for the playtester 
• Open discussion, freeform discussion
• Metrics, data analytics to fine tune features

The Play Matrix 

The horizontal axis being skill and chance (core aspects of interactive play) with a relationship between the vertical axis being mental calculation and physical dexterity.

Playtesting Feedback Gathering

During play, ask the playtesters reasons for their actions, any confusion for navigation and feelings during their experience of features within the game.

After the playtest session, ask them about their first impressions, any frustrations, dead space within the play, any satisfying and "wow" factor moments and if the game time was too long or short. For formal elements, ask about their objective in this game and what they thought was the objective. Was it something clear to them? Did they find loopholes to the goal that made it easy to reach? Or was that something that spiced up their gameplay? Also ask them about what they think could be improved. For dramatic elements, ask about the game's premise. Is it exciting? Or something you see everywhere? Does the story enhance how you play and feel about the game? Is this game and its narrative appropriate for its audience? Did you feel the build up to the story's climax? Or was it too abrupt? How would you improve this? For the game's procedures/rules/interface/controls, ask the testers if they understood them easily from the start or if they gradually learned them. Does the interface showcase all the information you need without being too cluttered? Does anything feel clunky or awkward? Is there anything you would like to be added or removed? To wrap up the session, ask about the player's overall experience and its attractiveness. Did they feel that anything was missing and that they would add something to the game? What target audience do they think this game is for?

Research Game

● Lovers in Dangerous SpaceTime by Matt Hammill, Asteroid Base

Lovers in Dangerous SpaceTime is mainly a 2 to 4 player game (single player is also possible, but you'd have to play with an AI) where players control sections of the ship that either shoot, block enemy projectiles or steer the entire ship. Like how the Game Grumps described it in their first video of the game, it's like Vindictus but 2d. But those functions of the spaceship are only the most basic. There are plenty other ship upgrades that change the way players will approach the game. I also love how these different ship features aren't something locked to each character, but are free for anyone to use, and so creates a lot of interaction between players in who does what as they steer through the dangers of a spacetime.