Does the story come across well enough through just the dialogue of the characters?
This question is important because while our game is a puzzle game at heart, the entire environment, as well as all the characters needed to solve the puzzles, are enveloped in a plot that extends chronologically before the beginning of the game; therefore, solving the puzzles is only enjoyable for a player if they can understand the reason the puzzles exist. To test this, we can generate a prototype that simply includes the ability to talk to all the different characters in sequence, and access all the relevant assets (notebook scraps, etc.); the puzzles themselves don’t necessarily need to be actually be included. My guess is that the plot will be a little difficult to get from the existing dialogue; we might have to be more explicit by making the notebook scraps spell out the story more.
How obvious is the spiral structure of the building?
This question is important because our puzzles, especially the later ones, require the understanding that the environment forms multiple loops, not just one; furthermore, the plot intertwines with this structure pretty heavily. To test this, we simply have to build out the levels; dialogue can be simpler, and the puzzles can be simpler; we mainly want to test the puzzle that we intend to have “reveal” the structure of the environment. My guess is that it won’t be obvious enough that things are changing between; we might have to make asset changes/appearances/disappearances more conspicuous.
Is the tone of the game “creepy” enough?
This question is important to make the game stand out from other puzzle games; we want the horror aspect of the story to cause players a sense of dread, even if all they’re doing is solving puzzles that don’t even have a time limit. To test this, we can present playtesters with a single level (the first one, for simplicity), with the assets, music, and dialogue fully worked. My guess is that the game is scary enough, and that the sound design is going to be the main issue requiring work.
