Playtest writeup
Link to html file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tWgN_4mWePBlXtoCZWPiMwQSuyC2v-cH/view?usp=share_link
What went well while playtesting:
People enjoyed the atmosphere, and consistently commented on being impacted by the art and the text effects/animations. People thought the first-person style of the art (with the eyelids and all) was “powerful.” People became engaged in “digging the vibes,” specifically my friends. When I got embarrassed and asked them to stop digging the vibes they refused. Of all my jokes, the “did you eat a rock again” joke was the hottest hit.
I also received this funny suggestion which I have yet to implement, but I will:
What I noticed and tried to fix during playtesting:
People were consistently unable to discover/learn the scrollability of the artworks, causing them to miss parts of the art. I added a scroll tutorial after the title screen in response. After playesting twice after this change, people clicked away from the scroll tutorial without actually scrolling, so I just cropped my art instead.
Feedback about the story so far, and what I did about it:
- What does Aster want — what’s her deal? Unsure at some parts.
- People seemed confused by Aster’s transition from a silly lover to being depressed and crusty. I added a scene/lore you can discover, by clicking on the right links within the opening sequence that drop hints at Aster’s underlying unhappiness.
- Choices don’t matter?
- In the new scene, the player has to click on enough hints to unlock the story, visualized by layers of chains that disappear over the text as the player comes closer to unlocking Aster’s secret. You stil don’t affect the story, but I am thinking this will help players feel like they’re engaging, and searching while playing instead of being fed a story.
