Should players play as cooperative teams or individually?
At first, we all seemed interested in creating a team game. However, there are a few complications with team games, such as how to account for odd numbers of players, and how exactly players would work with their team members (especially if they don’t know who their team members are). Therefore, I would be interested in making a prototype to answer this question, in which we have two versions of the game: one where each player plays individually, and one in which each player still has their own role but they are also assigned a team.
How easy or difficult is it for new players to learn the game?
In order for our game to be accessible, we want to make it relatively easy to adopt, while also providing enough complexity that players will be able to play the game multiple times without it feeling repetitive. Our prototype would include simple instructions for the game setup. Our test users could read the instructions, and then begin the game for a few seconds. We will ask them questions about how easy the instructions were to understand, and what they felt it was lacking. Based on their answers and the accuracy of their game setup with what we intended, we could then either reduce the complexity of the initial setup or add additional instructions. I am guessing that our game will be relatively easy to understand the setup of.
How can we differentiate player roles in a way that feels fair and interesting?
We all seemed interested in creating a game in which players have a different role, all centering around a certain theme, like a murder mystery. Their roles would give them certain abilities. In order to evaluate this, I think we would need to assign each player roles and observe multiple rounds of gameplay. If a specific role seems to win much more often than the other roles, or certain players seem inactive for long periods of time, we may have to think about how to balance out the abilities.
