Above is an example of the prototype I brought in to playtest in class. I had roleplayed a few options that I wrote down on paper before class, and received the advice of using Workflowy to get down a skeleton of my game. Workflowy allows you to nest choices much more easily than Google Docs.
I recorded the playtest in class. I saw right away that workflowy would not be suitable for hosting the final game. I also noticed that the player was already thinking through what options they could say that would safely keep the character interacting with them, which is good. That’s what I wanted. Considering I achieved that without the timer, I think I may need to direct my focus to thinking about saving states of relationship, tension, etc., and leave the timer for after I have more of a story. The player preferred their choices sticking to just dialogue, but also wanted to learn more about the character as the conversation unfolded. More than anything else, I need to decide on an ending for this game. I should try playtesting a full beginning and ending—the middle part of ‘tension’ isn’t as necessary because the game starts off with fairly high stakes. However, I need to make those stakes clear to players.
Overall, my short prototype provided me with abundant information. I have much to do as I continue designing this game.
