{"id":12985,"date":"2025-04-14T12:19:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T16:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/?p=12985"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T15:23:44","slug":"playtest-1-game-makers-notes-for-sustainable-city-builder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/?p=12985","title":{"rendered":"Playtest 1 Game Maker&#8217;s Notes for &#8211; &#8220;Sustainable City Builder&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>. What questions did your players have?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How do we handle climate events?<\/strong> Players were unsure how much preparation they needed for the random climate events and whether they could do anything to prevent them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>How do the Victory Points work?<\/strong> Some players had trouble understanding how different actions (like waste management or renewable energy) contributed to the Victory Points system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>How can we balance resources better?<\/strong> Many players were asking about the best strategies for managing limited resources, especially early on when it feels like there\u2019s so much to juggle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. How quickly did they learn to play?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Players picked up the basic rules relatively quickly, taking about\u00a0<strong>10-15 minutes<\/strong>\u00a0to understand the gameplay flow and how to build their city.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The most complex part was learning how to manage the\u00a0<strong>resource tracker<\/strong>\u00a0and understanding the\u00a0<strong>Climate &amp; Challenge Phase<\/strong>, but after a few rounds, they got the hang of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. What kinds of interactions did the players have?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Players mostly interacted during the\u00a0<strong>trading of resources<\/strong>\u00a0(like money or energy) to help each other build their cities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There was occasional\u00a0<strong>collaboration on strategies<\/strong>\u00a0(e.g., one player focusing on renewable energy while another focuses on waste management), but the game is primarily competitive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some players enjoyed\u00a0<strong>informal alliances<\/strong>, discussing strategies to tackle environmental issues together, even if the rules didn&#8217;t require collaboration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. What confused players?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Challenge Tokens<\/strong>\u00a0and how they were triggered often caused confusion, especially with the dice rolls and specific resource thresholds. Players weren\u2019t always sure when they would face a challenge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Victory Points<\/strong>: The different ways to earn Victory Points (like for renewable energy or waste management) weren\u2019t fully clear to some players, especially early in the game.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Climate Event Cards<\/strong>\u00a0sometimes felt too unpredictable and were difficult to plan for.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. What did your players enjoy doing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Players really enjoyed\u00a0<strong>building green spaces<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>renewable energy sources<\/strong>\u00a0because it felt like they were doing something positive for the environment while earning points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>transportation system<\/strong>\u00a0and seeing the benefits of their public transit investment (less traffic, fewer emissions) was also a highlight.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strategic planning<\/strong>\u00a0and managing the city\u2019s growth over multiple rounds gave them a satisfying sense of control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6. Did any aspect of the game frustrate players?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Players found the\u00a0<strong>random Climate Event Cards<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Challenge Tokens<\/strong>\u00a0frustrating, especially when these events disrupted their carefully laid plans.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There was frustration around\u00a0<strong>resource shortages<\/strong>, particularly with managing waste and energy. Some players felt overwhelmed by the amount of things they had to keep track of.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>7. What is your plan to address player questions, confusion, and frustration?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I\u2019ll create a\u00a0<strong>quick reference guide<\/strong>\u00a0for the\u00a0<strong>Challenge Tokens<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Climate Event Cards<\/strong>, showing exactly when and how they can affect gameplay.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I\u2019ll also make the\u00a0<strong>Victory Points<\/strong>\u00a0system clearer, with more visible markers on the board showing how different actions contribute to points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To alleviate frustration from resource shortages, I might introduce\u00a0<strong>early game bonuses<\/strong>\u00a0or a\u00a0<strong>tutorial phase<\/strong>\u00a0that helps players understand how to balance resources from the start.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>8. If your players didn\u2019t get your intended message, what will you change?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If players didn\u2019t fully grasp the message of\u00a0<strong>balancing sustainability<\/strong>, I\u2019ll clarify this through\u00a0<strong>clearer objectives<\/strong>\u00a0for each city element (like energy, waste, transportation, etc.) and perhaps give bonus points for achieving balance early.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I might also add a\u00a0<strong>goal-tracking system<\/strong>\u00a0on the player boards, with milestones for achieving specific eco-friendly goals like reducing carbon footprint, so players can see how they\u2019re progressing toward sustainability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>. What questions did your players have? 2. How quickly did they learn to play? 3. What kinds of interactions did the players have? 4. What confused players? 5. What did your players enjoy doing? 6. Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? 7. What is your plan to address player questions, confusion, and &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/?p=12985\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Playtest 1 Game Maker&#8217;s Notes for &#8211; &#8220;Sustainable City Builder&#8221;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[139],"class_list":["post-12985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-design-studio-2","tag-marked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12986,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12985\/revisions\/12986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmu.andrewyames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}