What I Changed Going In
The setting and the story changed. The game used to take place in a computer lag room. Now it’s just Leon using his own computer after midnight, where he happens to find his friend pip drawing in a shared whiteboard room. I had also been exploring Dungeons & Dragons as a way to tell the story. It was cool, but I was never really sold on it, so I started thinking about how to use the strengths of a whiteboard instead: things that get drawn, things that stay, and things that don’t get finished.
Playtesting
I playtested with a friend from a club. I had him sit down and experience the game so far.
What I Heard
He enjoyed the virtual machine, which I’m glad about, since it’s the part I care about most. He also had a suggestion for it: add weather, like rain outside. And he thought players shouldn’t be able to get online until they find the wifi password in the notes. I like this idea because looking at the notes would make the player learn about Leon without me having to tell them.
But there were two bigger problems. He asked “who is Leon?” and said he didn’t really embody the character he was playing. He also said that if he’s grieving, he wants how he grieves to matter. If he’s angry or sad, his choices should have some kind of effect, and in my build they didn’t.
What I’m Changing
I think those two problems are connected, because it’s hard to grieve as someone you don’t know. My goal is to connect players more to Leon and give them more agency in the story.
For Leon, the game already lets you pull his own photos, songs, and notes onto the shared whiteboard, and pip reacts to them. I want to push that further, so that the player keeps finding Leon in the things around them. The wifi password in the notes is one way to do that. For agency, I want a reply to change how pip responds to you, not just which line comes next. I’m also planning to add the rain, so the machine feels more alive.
I’m not sure how choices can matter when the loss has already happened, or how to let someone grieve in their own way with only a few buttons and a drawing board. I’m also wondering how to make a player feel like Leon without telling them who he is, and whether making them hunt for the wifi password is a good way to do it, or if it will feel like homework.
Moving Forward
Next I want to add the rain, the wifi password, and replies that change how pip responds, and then playtest again with someone new. I want to keep exploring how a whiteboard can carry a story that nobody says anything out loud.
so cool