For the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a 3D platform game. I just finished and submitted the game today. The plan for the class would be to playtest everyone's games once we all finished; however, we don’t have any time left to do so. We have playtested some games before, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I’ve talked about running playtests before, but I haven’t talked about what to do when you're the playtester. The best way to learn is to research, so I went looking for articles on how to be a playtester. I found an article called How To Playtest - Part 1 "Set the Stage which gave four tips for what not to do when doing a playtest. The first tip was not to voice your opinions during the game. Tip two was to not make the designer have to defend aspects of the game while playing. Three was to not be distracting with side conversations. The last tip was don't voice your opinions about the physical look of the game. As a playtester, you are supposed to give valuable information about the game and the gameplay, not the look of the game. You're not there to criticize the game, and you shouldn't talk about other things to not be rude. By not doing those things, you are a better playtester. I looked for more information on what you should do and found an article called 10 Playtesting Principles - Advice on how to be a better playtester. The article had ten pieces of advice. I thought all of the pieces of advice where good; however, I feel that some were more important than others. The first piece of advice is to know other games to allow for comparing and contrasting. The second piece of advice is to be aware of the main idea of the game. The third piece of advice is to ask the maker what parts of the game they are looking for help improving. The fourth piece of advice is, to be honest, which is the most important. If I ever have a chance to be a playtester again, I will definitely remember these tips. Things to remember:
Works Cited
“10 Playtest Principles - Advice on How to Be a Good Playtester.” BoardGameGeek, boardgamegeek.com/thread/938100/10-playtest-principles-advice-how-be-good-playtest. “How to Playtest – Part 1 ‘Set the Stage.’” League of Gamemakers, www.leagueofgamemakers.com/how-to-playtest-part-1-set-the-stage/.
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For our project, we are going to start playtesting in the coming week. I read a chapter of our book on playtesting, but didn't feel that it helped me understand it. Playtesting is a very important of the creation of a game. I wanted to prepared to start playtesting, so I decided to research some more.
Playtesting is how you test a game before you release it. Playtesting is very common in the game industry. Game designer playtest at different stages in the design process. According to Technopedia, the different playtestings that occur are gross, in-house, blind, and final playtesting. I learned some do’s and don’ts of running playtests on League of GameMakers. To be successful in your playtest, you should be very clear about your game, including the development stage, mechanics, and theme. You should be patient and polite, while also being respectful of time. According to the League Of GameMakers, you can change rules and revive the game while they are playtesting. Things you shouldn’t do while running a playtest are very simple. You shouldn’t be defensive when you get feedback or ask biased questions. When running a playtest, you shouldn’t take up space that the playtesters could be using. One thing that keeps the players from being overwhelmed is that you don't give them all the rules at the time. Quick things to remember:
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AuthorI'm a student at Durham School of the Arts, and currently in the Game Art Design pathway. I like playing the Sims 4, playing with dogs, and riding horses. This blog will reflect my learning and discoveries. Archives
May 2019
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