While working on our team’s project concepts, I’ve come up with a few questions to consider as we construct the protototype.
1. Through what interface should a user interact with the prototype?
This is important to our prototype as it will determine the structure of the rest of the game. A good way to test it would be to create several versions that have a different format, such as cards or a primarily verbal game, and test each one. I imagine a card-based system will work best, as it allows for some level of structure so players don’t have to rely on their own ideas alone.
2. What emotion should users feel as they play?
This sets the ultimate tone of the entire game. I believe that, ideally, players should have fun while also feeling more connected to their fellow players, and maybe a little vulnerable. It could be interesting to test this by asking complete strangers to play together as part of the prototype.
3. How should the main mechanic — for us, sharing a worry with the group — be implemented?
This is important to us as we had several ideas for this portion, and like the first question it would change a lot of the structure of the game. We plan to test this similarly, by having different comparable prototypes and determining which is best. I imagine that sharing in a large group one at a time until everyone has shared once will be best, but we will find out!
