Following the initial prototype, I conducted a playtest session with my roommate to evaluate narrative flow, choice agency, and emotional immersion.
Players strongly resonated with the Fox’s sensory perspective (sniffing the air, tail tension, body heat). The central tension between wild self-preservation and opening oneself up to vulnerability created meaningful player hesitation during choices. Also, the narrative shift to the Fox made the familiar source material feel intimate and emotionally high-stakes.
However, she found severe infinite loop bug. During Act II (Day 3, Passage_Talk_Sheep), selecting the option to comfort the Little Prince about his rose triggered Passage_Understanding_Rose. Because this passage was shared with Act I, its exit button redirected players back to Passage_TheRitual_Start (Day 1). Time was reset from Day 3 back to Day 1, trapping players in an infinite narrative loop.
She also commented that transition options such as [[Enter Act III: Shadows of Departure]] or [[Enter Act IV: The Aftermath]] felt like system directives rather than character actions. Thus, she felt pulled out of the story right at peak emotional moments (e.g., right when the snake appears or right after the prince falls).
Furthermore, Act III felt repetitive, circling back to old topics (sheep, muzzles, well water) rather than driving forward toward the impending climax. Additionally, jumping from panic over the sheep (Passage_Muzzle_Worry) straight into wheat field metaphors (Passage_Wheat_Memory) created jarring narrative disconnects.
Based on the feedback, I made the following changes. I replaced all meta-labels with immediate, sensory-grounded actions, changing [[Enter Act III: Shadows of Departure]] into [[Freeze, your eyes locked on the glowing yellow shape halting in the sand]]. Besides, I mapped out every single entry and exit node on a visual canvas to isolate all multi-entry passage conflicts and circular dead-ends. I also revised options and linking paragraphs to bring all the paragraphs closely connected.
A question is since the Prince’s departure is an immutable plot point, does shifting player agency purely toward how the Fox emotionally processes the event feel fulfilling, or do players still crave a false branch where they can save him? Do I still need to add more innovative, original plots into this game?
