- How do players make voting decisions—are they based on logic, emotion, or randomness?
- Why is this important? Voting is the heart of social deduction games. If people vote randomly or based on “vibes,” it suggests the game lacks enough actionable information to make good decisions.
- Prototype Type: Role prototype or observation test with simple hidden roles and a few voting rounds.
- Prediction: Players will lean heavily on emotion and meta-game cues unless the game offers structured prompts, clues, or patterns to track.
- Do players enjoy the experience of being eliminated early—or does it ruin the game for them?
- Why is this important? This was particularly a problem for me during my experience playing Mafia in class, where I was first eliminated in our first game and second in our second game, detracting greatly from my experience, although it was still fun. Early elimination is a common problem in Mafia-style games. You need to know if players who are voted out still feel involved or entertained.
- Prototype Type: Role prototype with fast elimination rounds; observe eliminated players’ reactions and engagement.
- Prediction: Without a secondary role (ghost voting or side goals, etc.), early exits will feel boring, especially for new players. I think it would be great to keep eliminated players included somehow.
- How does the game dynamic change when it’s team-based vs. free-for-all?
- Why is this important? As a team, we were considering whether to orient our game to be more team-focused, like Werewolf, or a bit more free-for-all, like Mafia, and more insight into this would help guide our decision. Most traditional social deduction games are team-based, but some (like Paranoia or Fisticuffs as well) embrace the free-for-all suspicion since you can only really know if you yourself are bad or not. Testing this can define the game’s emotional tone between one that’s collaborative vs. more chaotic.
Prototype Type: Run similar setups in both modes, one with clear teams and one with secret individual goals, and compare player behavior.
Prediction: Team play will encourage more collaboration and group discussion, whereas free-for-all will be more chaotic and suspicion-driven. I’m curious to see which one I enjoy more.
- Why is this important? As a team, we were considering whether to orient our game to be more team-focused, like Werewolf, or a bit more free-for-all, like Mafia, and more insight into this would help guide our decision. Most traditional social deduction games are team-based, but some (like Paranoia or Fisticuffs as well) embrace the free-for-all suspicion since you can only really know if you yourself are bad or not. Testing this can define the game’s emotional tone between one that’s collaborative vs. more chaotic.
