Week 06 - Week 12
Ahmad Firas Bin Ahmad Fisal | 0345121
Games Studies | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Project 02: Playtests and Final Project
INSTRUCTIONS
REQUIREMENTS
In anticipation of your playtest next week, please do the following:
- Prepare the alpha game prototype for the playtest - The physical pieces, boards, cards, dice etc.
- Handcraft the items if you can't reuse existing pre-made game pieces. But keep the design simple and ugly!
- The most important thing is the game's rules and set-up
- Use the time in class today to play a round or two of your game.
- Take notes of the strengths and weaknesses of the game as you play.
- Record the gameplay session for further observation study.
- Analyse these for improvements
- After you're satisfied with the playtests, answer this feedback survey. The inputs will help you to adjust and improve the game's playfulness further.
Week 06 - Pre-Alpha Playtest
We have prepared as many physical pieces as we could such as the
board, the cards, dice, tokens, etc. Though they are hideous due to
being completely craft-looking DIY pieces prepare ourselves for the
Pre-Alpha playtest which will have the original creators of the game
test the game with each other to see how it goes.
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| Pre-Alpha: Preparation |
Because our game involves quite many action cards with different
functions, we decided to ditch the traditional testing of our game
that involves us moving through the board which would take quite
longer to finish a single playtest, we took the non-traditional route
for this pre-alpha playtest by playing and observing the actions cards
to see if we have a balanced amount and to further our exploration to
the current state of the game.
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| Action Cards - Planning and Execution |
We also focused on checking on game rules too, to see if our rules are
up to expectation to provide seamless and positive gameplay
experiences.
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| Game Rules 1.0 |
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| Game Rules 1.0 |
Findings and Official Feedback:
We have found that our game requires a lot of consideration on the
logistics of the game, such as how many cards we should have for this
particular action card, and how many dice to have to balance out the
game, all of these are required to be considered meticulously. With
that being said after the Pre-Alpha playtest among the co-creators of
the game, we went back to the drawing board and rediscussed these
features so that the following playtest involving external players
would have smoother gameplay.
Feedback from Miss Anis;-
- Good post-game experience
- Consider heightening the immersion of the game. (other punishing penalties, more competitive, etc.)
- The social presence of the game was satisfying and dynamic
- Our game could benefit from a playstyle that challenges your players' usual intellect and subjective emotions. (more dramatic, punishing penalties)
Key Findings: More competitive, dramatic, emotional,
morale-questioning playstyle.
Week 07 - Alpha Playtest
With the amendments from the previous playtest being implemented in
the current Alpha playtest, new players from different groups would
now be trying out our game using the same original prototype pieces
because the main goal of this alpha playtest is not for aesthetic
purposes. Still, instead, it is to observe how other players would
play our game and receive their feedback so we could improve them
before the final playtest, Beta Playtest.
Because we have other players who are not involved in creating this
game, the feedback we received for the game was as raw as it could be
so we really depended on this Alpha playtest to see our major flaws.
Fortunately, with one of the group members being the observer of the
game and also myself as the player guiding the other players in
playing the game, we could see several flaws in the game mechanics
which helped us in making further improvements.
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| Alpha Playtest - Preparation |
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| Alpha Playtest - Session Overview |
Aziera and I were the co-creators who decided to stay and be the ones
who would explain the whole game as we played along and Aziera was the
one who would be the silent observer to observe any flaws or key
takeaways from this playtest. I would say that I did a great job in
becoming the Gamemaster as the other 3 players from different groups
were able to understand the game after 2-3 rounds of directing the
game.
Findings and Official Feedback:
We have found that generally, the players enjoyed the game however the
major flaw in this game is that since there are no empty boxes on the
board game and the dice with the action card symbol which prompted
them to consistently get the challenge cards instead of focusing more
on moving forward in the board game. Because of that, this was the
major takeaway we jotted down for better improvement in the Beta
Playtest. However, the players did mention that it was great as an
Alpha Playtest because they get the objective of the game and the
competitiveness to gain the most number of Moral tokens. What was
recommended to be improved was the mechanics of the game but not the
objective of the game which was a good thing because it would give us
a major setback if we were to change the objective and the main
concept of the game because changes to the game mechanics such as
introducing empty boxes and the rest are expected. After all, this is
only the Alpha Playtest.
Feedback from Miss Anis;-
- Boost the immersion by aligning motives with gameplay, strengthening the connection between mechanics and playful experiences. (This is due to the excessive chances of getting the challenge cards which distracted them from the main goal of the game.)
- Consider refining the game rules for increased dynamism, mirroring real life with a touch of ironic humour.
- Introduce challenging elements to the game mechanics to enhance stimulation and excitement.
- Keep the players engaged and motivated by making the gameplay competitive and filled with excitement.
Key Findings: Refining game rules, Challenging elements and game
mechanics
The video attached is a snippet of how the Alpha Playtest went:
Week 08 - Week 12: Beta Playtest and Final Design (*Design preparation and Playtest
analysis)
Improvements that we have made in the Beta Playtest after analysing
our observations and findings from the previous session were as
follows;
- Introduced penalty cards
- Added 2 more powerful good/bad 'Fate' Cards, while multiplying the number of the cards to increase the chances of drawing.
- Improved the character's ability cards.
- Improved the game design (overall).
- Improved the box of the board game.
- Provided a token pouch for each player to organise it well.
For the preparation of the Beta Playtest, we have discussed the
final design we wanted it to be because there are major changes we
have implemented for the final project and testing (Beta Playtest)
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| Beta Playtest - Final design discussion |
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| Beta Playtest - Items purchasing |
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| Beta Playtest - On-hand designing |
- New board game design to complement the feedback of making the
game more balanced by introducing empty boxes.
- Restructured the design of the dice.
- To complement our added features such as the penalty marker and
system.
The video attached is a snippet of how the Beta Playtest went:
Feedback from the players;
- Players really enjoyed the game features and experience.
- By only using the rule book, they manage to set the game by themselves
- Players can understand the game's rules well thanks to the comprehensive rule book.
- The game becomes faster and smoother now with the improvements made.
- They suggested that the bad moral tokens should get more punishment to make the game much better than it already is.
Before we move on to the Final Design, I'll attach the design file
in PDF to showcase all of the design elements that were able to make
this tabletop game a success.
- - Final Design
After the Beta Playtest testing, we were given one last chance to do
amendments to our project which will be the final iteration of the
board game. We have taken advantage of the 13th week when we don't
have a physical class and decided to use this time to create our final
presentation slides and video demonstration of the game. This is also
when the final iteration was made thoroughly.
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| Final Design - Physical game preview |
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| Final Design - Video demonstration preview |
Major Improvements:
- Getting 3 Bad Moral tokens not only results in penalties for players but also they have to give away 2 Good Moral tokens back to the token stash.
- We have also changed the abilities of the character cards;
- Persuader - The player can persuade a player of 3 Bad Moral Tokens once per game (which will result in an immediate penalty and subsequently follows the rules of getting a penalty where players are required to give away 2 Good Moral tokens back to the token stash.
- Time Travel - The player can use its power twice per game.
- We have removed one challenge symbol from the dice. (Initially, there are 2 sides with a challenge symbol)
We also went back to the printing shop to re-print our rule book
because the previous quality was quite bad due to miscommunication
at the time of printing. Character standees were also improved with
a much stronger foundation where we used wood and carved it
ourselves to slot in the character cutouts.
Final Presentation Slides and Video Demonstration will be attached
below this statement;
Morals On Tracks by Group 09
Video Demonstration: Click Here!
REFLECTION
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| Group 09 - Final Presentation |
This module is living proof that a module could be taught at a slower
pace but really impactful in terms of the knowledge we would get. The
way Miss Anis handled and arranged this module was really successful.
I feel like I wasn't pressured in a learning environment as much as
the other modules where the modules are structured to constantly
unnecessarily push design students trying to navigate these modules
for the first time. It can be demotivating and make us lose interest
in a particular module if it's done that way. However, that is not the
case with Games Studies. I hope that the juniors will be able to
experience this as well because we seniors can understand the
frustration of having a learning environment that is not catered for
true design beginners trying to find ways to excel.
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