What types of plots, nouns, and verbs entertain players the most?
Why this is important
Whether the game is entertaining hinges a lot on the written copy on the cards. If the cards are dull, players will not have fun even if the game mechanics and graphic design of the game are good.
What prototype can answer this?
A look and feel prototype. It should have variations on the game copy, and we as the designers can study which copy does better with players.
Guess to how it will turn out
I think funnier copy will do best. If players are laughing, they will feel good playing the game. Laughter also brings the group together and facilitates fellowship. “Funny” means a lot of things, so I think more specifically copy with irony, pop culture references, and a bit of satire poking fun at movie stereotypes will perform well.
How can we make noun/verb options flow well with the plot cards?
Why this is important
The noun/verb cards need to grammatically and semantically fit with the plot cards. Not all of them have to make sense, but in general the noun/verb options should flow well when inserted into the plot cards, or players will be left scratching their heads in confusion, which is not fun.
What prototype can answer this?
An implementation prototype. We need to insert noun/verb options into the plot sentences to make sure a decent amount goes together and make revisions if they don’t.
Guess to how it will turn out
I think the plot sentences will need to be pared down and vaguer, so more nouns/verbs can integrate with them. We will need to make decisions about how to incorporate variations in articles, plurality, and gender.
How many cards of each type do we need, and how much should players have each round?
Why this is important
Too few cards means players will run out of new cards, and the cards will become stale. But we also don’t have the capacity to produce very many. The total number is affected by how many cards players have in their hand each round.
What prototype can answer this?
A look and feel prototype. We can vary the amount of cards players have at the beginning of each round and see what’s the appropriate amount to keep the game fun but not overwhelm players with options.
Guess to how it will turn out
Players will like having 5 noun cards and 5 action cards.
