Here are some of the questions we intend to explore with our Prisoners of War prototype:
- Should we use a password with a single part or a multi-part password (i.e., multiple categories)?
One of the main goals of the prototype is to understand whether a single-part password (based on one category) is enough to make the game challenging for the mole while still being manageable for the teams to guess. This decision will not significantly change the prototype mechanics but will influence how we sample password categories. My hypothesis is that a multi-part password will be more suitable, as it increases the difficulty for the mole to communicate the message clearly and for the teams to guess correctly.
- Should each team have a single mole or multiple moles? What should be the ideal mole-to-player ratio?
Finding the right proportion of moles per team is essential to balance the game’s difficulty. This aspect won’t drastically affect the prototype’s mechanics but will guide how we structure playtesting (e.g., varying team sizes and mole numbers). I believe a good rule of thumb is one mole for every four players. For example:
- 4 players → 1 mole
- 8 players → 2 moles
- and so on.
- Is the duration of each interrogation sufficient for meaningful gameplay?
Our initial assumption is to allocate approximately 30 seconds per player for interrogation. However, this might turn out to be too long or too short. Therefore, playtesting with different time limits will be essential. In the prototype, we’ll likely use a digital timer to easily experiment with various durations. For the final version, we envision using an hourglass to simplify gameplay. We currently assume that 30 seconds per prisoner interrogation is a reasonable starting point.
- How many password categories should we include to strike the right balance between difficulty and playability?
Determining the appropriate number of password categories is crucial — too few makes the game repetitive and easy; too many makes it overwhelming. Our prototype should include different pool sizes so we can test various category sets. I estimate that having around 30 categories would provide enough variety to ensure replayability while keeping the game engaging and challenging.
