3-3 Playtest Paper Prototype

Now your team will use its paper prototype to playtest your game, in order to evaluate the core gameplay and improve the game design.

You'll playtest your paper prototype in two stages:

• Internal Playtesting → External Playtesting

Internal playtesting is having your own team play the game to evaluate it.

External playtesting is having people outside your team play the game to evaluate it. Ideally, you would recruit people that match your target player persona.

After playtesting, your team will update its game design document to reflect any necessary additions or changes to the game's design.

YOUR TASK

1. Playtest your paper prototype internally within your team to clarify and refine your game design. If necessary, revise your game design document and/or paper prototype.

   • Have one person on your team act as the player. The player can perform any actions allowed by the procedures of the game.

   • The rest of your team will act as the "computer" by responding to the player's actions and controlling the other characters and game objects — based on the rules of the game.

   • Focus on making sure the core gameplay works, makes sense, seems fun, and matches your targeted design goals (gaming motivations and player experience goals).

2. Recruit external playtesters by partnering with another team. Have the other team playtest your paper prototype. After 15-20 minutes, the two teams can switch roles, so the other team's paper prototype is also playtested. (If time allows, have more external playtesters play your game.)

   • The design team should briefly:

     • identify the game's targeted gaming motivations and player experience goal(s)

     • explain the game's premise and objective

     • describe and demonstrate the basic actions that the player can perform during gameplay (optional: it might help to provide a "cheat sheet" that the player can refer to)

   • One person from the design team should observe and record notes during playtesting (such as: what parts of the gameplay seem to work well, what issues occurred, etc.).

   • The rest of the design team will act as the "computer" during playtesting.

   • One person from the external team will act as the player, while the rest of the external team will observe the playtesting.

   • Both during and after playtesting, the external team can ask questions and provide feedback. The design team can respond and can ask their own questions to clarify the feedback or to get feedback on specific aspects of the game.

3. Use the observations and notes from the external playtesting to clarify and improve your game's design by making additions and/or revisions to your team's game design document — including your concept sketches (if needed).