Team Members
Zoe Clute, Asher Hensley, Ana Nguyen, Houston Taylor, Thanh Tieu
Background
We are making a digital game about the system of the postal service and how they send packages, but applying those rules to an interplanetary mail system. We were pretty set on having a mail-sorting gameplay loop where players can drag mail to the appropriate transportation, so we wanted to test ways that players may want to improve or automate this loop as they progress. For this playtest, we gave the playtester cards with shapes marked on them and requested that they sort them to the correctly shaped planet; once he finished each round, he also had the option to upgrade some aspect of the system.
Observations
The player completed 2/3 rounds of sorting successfully, only missing one package in the last round. They seemed invested in completing each round quickly and effectively and said they were:
- Frustrated that it was impossible to win the last round, but would not have been upset if it had been clear winning was possible
- Confused about the usefulness of one of the upgrades (receiving two packages at once, not necessarily of the same type)
- Happy they were not punished for sending more packages than necessary since that rule was unclear
- Interested in potentially seeing wages decrease if sorting goals are not met
- Interested in seeing automation for route planning, but enjoyed the manual sorting aspect
- Interested in seeing more opportunities for manipulation and strategy, as well as average vs. personal stats for players
- Desire to see other stages in the system and how they influence one another
They had some challenges with memorizing the number of packages they must send to each planet. They also made an important note that errors in earlier parts of the system should affect the later parts of the system (i.e. if sorting is messed up, routes and delivery should be messed up too)
Changes
We are planning to move to a digital game format as soon as possible, so that will be the biggest change. With that, we will some some of the playtester’s issues with the game, such as the lack of counters for the packages each planet needs and the want for global statistics. Some additional changes we can make from this playtest’s insights are:
- Ensuring each upgrade actually improves the speed or score of players (ex. giving two of the same symbol when the player upgrades to receive two packages at once)
- Having ways to automate parts of each minigame we plan to make (sorting, transporting, distributing), but always having the option for manual input
- Ensuring each aspect of the system is interconnected so that mistakes in one area affect other areas
- Making win goals clear and punishing the player if they go over or under their goal
- Making upgrades more appealing by adding sensational aspects such as different graphics per upgrade and celebratory noises that play when upgrades are purchased
