Author: Ethan Romito

As I said in my last post, I decided to test BrainyAct again today. I think it went very well and overall felt smoother. I had Mia and Luke play today to allow for another set of new people to experience it for the first time. On that note, I did contemplate if time allowed for it to test with Shane and Ben again to see how speed of play improves with familiarity, but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to. However, Luke and Mia seemed to have fun and gave great feedback on my second test of BrainyAct.

I will upload separately their responses to my questionnaire, but here I will reflect and comment further on what I may change, what I did differently today, and why I think it went better today then last time.

In my opinion today’s test went better overall due to a couple of things: 1) my cleaner look to the cards as I mentioned earlier. I think this allowed for the system of the game to run as it should rather than people being stuck on the functionality of the playing cards. 2) prior knowledge. Today I overheard others testing their games, giving insight to their testers prior to playing the game. Even though I remember Ames advising us in Game Design 1 not to do this, I figured in my second test of the game it was valid to give my testers a little bit of background on the game so they aren’t totally lost playing. So, prior to starting I briefly explained the rule set and what the colors in my game denote. On top of this, I gave a comparison on what influenced my game design, referencing Trivial Pursuit and Taboo.

After taking pictures, looking over gameplay, and overall having a good time testing, I decided that a couple things may be helpful. I think that adding into the ruleset a tips category or a line somewhere in there that references time and the lack of it that you have is important. What I mean by this is that I found that even after reaching the target goal of 3 cards in a category, the testers were continuing to take part in questions in a certain category they had already completed.

I think the next step is to make these revisions and work on the ruleset video I was mentioning prior. I think it would be really cool to use a QR code engraved into the inside of the box that pulls up a video rule set rather than a lengthy written one. This would allow for users to feel engaged and actually understand the rules rather than feeling the need to read a whole bunch.

Today was productive as usual. I decided to test again, which I will discuss in an additional post, and made some improvements to the overall experience that comes with playing BrainyAct. I started by reviewing the last test and the first prototype of cards I used. My first version was very make-shift, using two pieces of paper and simply stapling them together to get something testable together. Today, since I wanted to revise, improve, and ultimately test a more clean looking game, I decided to type up the questions and answers directly onto the cards in Photoshop and print them to make them more legible and professional looking. Also, I printed onto the back the brain pattern so that they are slimmer and easier to shuffle rather than stapling, gluing, or attaching the two pieces of paper. I think this provided for better gameplay as well.

I wanted to be unique with my feedback and create a questionnaire myself with my own questions that I was wondering specifically, on top of the questionnaire that Ames already provides to everyone during a play test. I asked everyone:

1. What did you think of the colors/aesthetic? Would you change anything? Were the colors denoting the type of question properly?
2. Would you be open to experiencing a video as a ruleset instead of a written, lengthy ruleset? Why or why not?
3. Was the 2-minute sand timer enough time? If not, what do you think it should be?
4. Did you enjoy the red bolt category (actions)? Do you have any recommendations for actions to add or ones to adjust? Why?
5. Would you recommend this to a friend? Would you play the finished version/play again?

Shane’s Answers

1. I like the idea of having categories/colors. I think stating the color of the card could make the game more interesting/add more strategy.
2. A video ruleset would be nice. Seeing the game played out is always easier than reading.
3. I think the time was good. It never felt too short and never felt too long either.
4. I thought having actions was a fun way to spice things up. Having more active ones could be fun and make managing your time more interesting.
5. I would recommend this. I had a fun time and it felt competitive the whole time. It was a good mix of fun and educational.

Ben’s Answers

1. I think a various color boxes (red, yellow, green) for correct answer to fill and a reward of a meaningful object(s) (like Beatstar).
2. I think both are fine since I saw the written rules are organized; video is a bonus for fun exploration.
3. I think it’s a fair amount.
4. I enjoy it since it’s a mission trivia for fulfill the level of striking signs.
5. I would recommend for video game designer field and students since this mechanics are very towards the video game reward system.

Shane Ames’s Questionnaire

1. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Some questions I had zero idea on the topic, but I’m not sure anything could be done to help that.
2. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The competitive aspect of trying to get enough cards was a lot of fun.
3. Was there anything that you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I would have liked to know the color of the card I was being asked.
4. If you had a magic wand, and you could change, add , or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Know the colors easier for more strategy
5. How was the play experience changed since the first play test? n/a
6. Is this a game you would play again? Why? Yes, mentioned on other sheet.

My response to user feedback

I think a lot of what Shane and Ben said is valid. I was already thinking about a lot of their concerns and questions such as the color of the cards and potentially playing around with the concept of changing the back of the color to whatever color the bolt is on the front of the card. Given that the user answering doesn’t get to see the question/answer side, it makes sense to change this so they have an idea of at least what kind of question they are going to be asked. Also, I’m glad that both of them thought the time given (2 minutes) was good because that was one of my main concerns given the variety of questions/actions on the card.

Clay added some insight as well. He was talking to me about explaining the answer to the person answering if they answer incorrectly. In the play test I left that open ended to see what the users would do when answering incorrectly. Would they be curious and ask what the answer was? Or would they simply fall into a cycle of confusion? Unfortunately it was the latter. This wasn’t the end of the world, but I edited the ruleset to explain that and even added in the house rules section an optional hint section.

Ames talked to me about my blue bolt section. Some of the questions weren’t necessarily “general knowledge”, so I changed this section to be classified as “Pop Culture” to give me some leeway in that regard.

Lastly, from just observing, I found that I wasn’t specific enough about who was flipping the tube and who was picking the card. In most card games, if it is your turn you are the one picking the card. However, in this game, since the answer is on the card, the person not actively answering (the person who’s turn it is NOT) is the one picking the card from the deck to read to the other. That means that the player that is actively answering is the one flipping the sand timer.

Class today was productive. I worked more on color theory and the overall aesthetic for BrainyAct. I found that the best look is to go with a black and white color scheme and have the colorful aspect of the game be associated with the types of challenges that come with the game. I originally experimented with primary colors (red, blue, yellow) with the addition of a bright green. However, after looking at the concept art and mockups, I decided to go against the brighter colors and instead chose a pastel color scheme for the same colors. This gave the look a more unique feel and made the game feel better art-wise.

Next week I plan on elaborating on the experimentation I did and begin to test the game mechanics. Until then I will be working on making at least 5 challenges per color category and do some user research/testing while doing so. I think this would be a good addition to the portfolio as well.

1. Ronan – Animal Rescue: scrolling game, animals are moving along and you have to use your grabber to click and grab the correct animals. If one slips past your run is done and you collect a score based on amount and type of animals saved. Speed increases with time and better score.
2. Ben – Proper Postures: Similar to Operation, you’re tasked with a different person with different postural issues each round. You must fix them in the appropriate order by pulling and stretching with your mouse or finger (web vs mobile versions) or else you fail. Levels get increasingly difficult.
3. Max – Formula Shortage: Formula is running out, you must collect as much as possible as fast as possible. But be sure to avoid the zombie babies that are trying to steal it from you. This format would be similar to Pacman, except instead of paceman, you’re a mother, and instead of ghosts, there are zombie babies that when you hit a token turn into regular babies for you to cross paths with.
4. Ronan – Retirement Homes: the idea of this game is to make sure your old people don’t wander off. You must put them in their color coordinated houses based on the robes they are wearing. With time, speed does not pick up, but the quantity does, as well as the amount of colors. Start with blue red yellow, move on to all the colors of the rainbow.
5. Max – Love: similar to cow clicker, come back each day to a website and click the heart on the character on screen. With time, the heart gets bigger and a story evolves. Eventually there is a spouse that joins, which you then have to click their heart as well. And then eventually a kid, and more kids, and they get married and have kids. You can go infinitely.