Our team is working on developing a social deduction game where players anonymously divulge secrets based on prompts, attempting to match others’ secrets while safeguarding their own.
Some questions I am thinking about:
- How engaging are the prompt cards for inspiring people to share diverse and interesting secrets? This is an important question to answer because the prompt cards are central to the game experience — they set the tone and provide inspiration for players’ secrets. To prototype this, I could perhaps create a small set of prompt cards covering various themes and scenarios to gauge players’ responses and level of engagement — which questions inspire the most interesting secrets and which don’t. I anticipate that the level of engagement would depend on both the type of prompt we ask as well as the players’ level of intimacy among themselves.
- How effectively does the anonymity mechanism preserve the secret-sharing aspect while allowing for strategic gameplay, like in games like Mafia? This is important because anonymity is key to the game’s premise, but the anonymity system shouldn’t hinder strategic interaction among players. To prototype this, I could create a basic anonymity mechanism, such as numbered slips or digital submission forms, and playtest to observe how players navigate the two mechanisms. I anticipate that initially players may struggle to find the right balance between revealing enough to mislead others and concealing their own secrets effectively. I wonder how I can strike a fine balance between the two.
- What is the optimal player count for the game to ensure enjoyable gameplay without sacrificing strategic depth? This is important because the game should accommodate a range of player counts while keeping in mind that the dynamics of gameplay may be heavily reliant on the number of participants. To prototype this, I will conduct playtests with different player counts, ranging from the minimum to maximum recommended players, to assess the dynamics created. I anticipate that the game will be most engaging and strategic with a moderate player count, such as 5-6 players.
