In our playtest session, there were five people to make a playthrough of the game, in which each person would give verbal feedback on their overall thoughts on the game. Our idea was to then interview the playtesters on four different questions, which would then hopefully relate back to our px goals and whether we had achieved them.
I’ll break them down to playtest response and post-playtest response, so for example:
Playtest Response:
- (Person has the freedom to express any thoughts on the game)
Post-playtest response:
- (How difficult/fun is the Platforming?)
- (Did it take too long to progress?)
- (Amount of falls?)
- (How difficult/fun are the enemies?)
NB: Note taking was conducted by writing down notes in a word document on the group’s laptop.
I will also post some feedback I wrote down from observing the emotions and reactions of the players as they were playing the game, as seen directly below.
General Observational Feedback:
There were some core features I implemented into the game that revolved around seeing the surrounding environment and it’s objects with peripheral vision. This was designed so that the player would have the curiosity to follow the paths, and see the keys before they could get to them. Overall I did notice that the majority of players’ eyes were moving around the screen following and observing the level without knowing what was on the other side. Players also frequently tried exploring different routes, and remembered what worked if and when they died.
Vincent Bornaghi:
Playtest Response:
- Visual style is hit and miss
- Fun and challenge is increased at a good pace
Post-Playtest:
- Platforming is a good balance of precision and fun, while still being challenge enough for failed attempts.
- The game went for longer than I expected
- The Last Level made me fall a lot, otherwise not many falls.
- Enemies vary the game from just platforming and sometimes add to its challenge
Dylan Van Beek:
Playtest Response:
- Love the floating jump style
- Controls well
Post-Playtest:
- Platforming is a little on the easy side but I love the feel of the controls
- The game felt about the right length
- Fell once or twice, not too many issues.
- Enemies are fine.
Aodhan Trusselle:
Playtest Response:
- Game needs more visual polish
- Maybe More variety of enemies
Post-Playtest:
- Platforming is a good level of challenge I think, and is very fun.
- Progression took a little longer than expected.
- I fell a few times during the game, but it wasn’t too much or too little.
- The enemies were fun but there was only one type. Would have liked to have seen more.
Rory Charlton:
Playtest Response:
- The game is surprisingly fun, a good level of challenge.
- Needs more enemy Variety.
Post-Playtest:
- Platforming is difficult but rewarding.
- It took me a fair while to make it through the game worlds.
- I fell a lot on the last level and once or twice in the second.
- Enemies are quite easy to deal with
Reuben Tham:
Playtest Response:
- I think I’d like a game with more emphasis on mastery of skills
- I like the aesthetic of the game
Post-Playtest:
- Platforming is slightly challenging
- The game doesn’t take too long to beat
- I had to play carefully in the third level to avoid falling, but only fell a couple of times.
- Finding and killing enemies is a good incentive to explore the worlds.
Final Recommendations:
From the feedback given to my game it seems as though the variety in response regarding the challenge and fun of the game was fluctuating between easy or hard, which sounds like it’s a balanced game overall. There were comments made regarding more types of enemies, which is something I will definitely look into. There were also comments on the visual style, and I think this is regarding the stretching of textures, which I will aim to fix as well. People are also saying that the game goes for a little longer than expected, so I might also rebalance the difficulty of the third level. Our Px Goals of experimenting, analysing and remembering were indirectly addressed in the question, where we have assumed that remembering, analysing and experimenting successfully will assist the player in completing the game. (and observational feedback suggested that players were using peripheral vision to traverse the environment as well as experimenting by taking different routes).
IGB100 Group 4 