CAGD 117

Children of The Cult Play test 1
Group 1

Game Summary: We as a team did a good job coming up with the idea of the game. From inspirations of other games we came up with the idea that it should be a PvP game. Here we knew it was going to take a lot of play testing because a Pvp game requires a ton of tweaks to make both sides of the play field balance. This was the case in our play test since the villagers were more powerful than the outsiders and its harder for the outsiders to win. Players thought this was the most frustrating because they wanted to win and not lose when being the outsiders. This game also requires a lot of concentration and with such small game board its hard to make movements to get away from a villager. Changes need to be made and it still won't be a perfect game til we play test it a lot more. As for the play testers they said we have potential but our first priority was to fix the balance issue so me and my partner are trying to think of new ways the game could become more fair. An example would be slowing down movements and increasing the size of the map that way the outsider can have a chance to get away. Our target audience is for casual and friendly players as well as the competitive players that want to beat their friends in a short fun way.

Problems:

We encountered meeting times as a problem since we both had different schedules.

we encountered that the game is not balanced and needs lots of tweaks to improve game play.

We encountered that Our game pieces should be better quality and move better through the board

We also encountered that the game board was too small because it made the outsiders limited to how far they can get away.

Solutions: 

We decided to meet after one of our classes so that we can get things done although i admit we needed to play test more.

We decided to tweak a few of the game features so that both villagers and outsiders can be balanced and that the game play can be as smooth as possible for the next play test.

Our game pieces will be designed and built better for the next play test.

We decided to increase the game board triple the size for the next play test. 

Marshmallow Madness Play Test 2

Group 7

Game Summary: 
Overall there were changes made to the game by adding two new cards and changes to the rule book separating the card functions from the basic game knowledge. These changes to the rules were not enough because we ended up finding some problems involving understanding what card does what. When adding the two new cards it inter graded a new way of play style so i think that was a good aspect of adding them in. Most of the play testers had good comments about the game overall and said it was fun to play with friends. The play testers were asked if they thought this game would appeal to a young audience or even advertise marshmallows and they said yes because a big aspect of the game were the pleasing cards to look at, because of their art on them. Since the cars were also colorful it also seemed to appeal to the players more rather then if we were to have a simple color.

Problems Encountered:

• Rules were organized but were missing visuals and still created confusion to those who read the rules to fast. 
• Rules specified what each card does but failed to give descriptions of those said. cards
• New Cards did not have accurate descriptions that reflected on exactly the players should do until consulting with me or Anna.
• Game said to be still very similar to Uno.

Solutions: 

• Add visuals to help the players understand what the game play will look throughout the game that way they could refer back to the rules without being confused.
• We decided to add an extra rule page sully focused with visuals of the cards to that way the players could associate the right way to play the card with the card itself.
• Changed short descriptions on the card to match the description in the rules
• We are thinking of adding new cards or introducing another element of play style to the cards themselves.

What I need to change in my development going forward would be paying attention to the detail in a rule sheet that way players wouldn't be confused.

 

Marshmallow Madness

Group 7

Game Summary: 

Play testing went great, better than the solitaire play test for sure. Players enjoyed our game a lot and at that point some even called it the best game in the play testing area. Our basic goal that we targeted as a group was to create a game that was easy to play and advertise marshmallows to a young audience ranging from ages five to eleven. Since our game did not include physical marshmallows we decided to create a card game that appealed to the mind of a young child who strives for sugar. Our cards had different cards that made the game played differently. This game was based off of UNO and it's place style. Our cards were fun to look at and fun to play with. Most players found the pictures appealing to look at while playing the game. Our rules were short enough to be straight to the point and helped the players understand the game fast and easy.

Problems Encountered:

• Rules were sort of unorganized and did not have a good flow. if a player had a question one had to search longer than they should of to find the answer. 
• Rules were straight to the point but had to be separated into categories because some of the rules could of been in the procedure sections or basic knowledge of the game crucial to it's game play.
• Game was too similar to UNO and needed more cards to distinguish itself from that game.
• Took too much time making prototype

Solutions: 

• Reorganize rules into sections and add labels to each of the sections.
• Separate Procedure rules from Border rules
• Add more cards and maybe even take away some cards to differentiate our game from UNO still advertising marshmallows.
• Focus more on the play test rather than aesthetics.

What I need to change about my development going forward is that i need to be involve more in the play test and less time in the aesthetics of a prototype.

Double Pair Solitaire

Group 3

Game Summary:

Double Pair Solitaire went pretty well aiming towards increasing the game difficulty targeted towards those players who want extra challenging experiences in their game play experience. Players became lost more frequently adding the rule of double pairs where cards had to be stacked two on two meaning the pile must conceive of 2 blacks and two reds continuously or vice versa. The game worked perfect for the most part but we as designers plan to add ways to combat such difficulty due to the fact that 100% of the play testers could did not win.

Problems Encountered:

•  Play testers believed the game was near impossible and recommended us to add extra rules that they could use to combat the difficulty.
• Rules were not outlined to the best of their ability and caused play testers to ask questions.
• Rules Outlined the basic game structure but failed to give detailed explanations on the new game mechanics.

Solutions:

• We thought of implementing redraw where one could retrace their steps to get a better way of playing their game.
• We thought of redrawing also from the formation piles to help move around the cards in the regular piles\

What I as a designer would change for my process would be to play test more and come up with solutions to the problems that haven't risen before the official play test.