CS 377G Final Reflection
CS 377G did not go as expected.
Prior Expectations
Before coming into this class, I thought that I had a solid understanding of game development and game testing. I had 5 years of experience developing mobile games and 4 years of PM experience. However, I realized that I approached game development exactly the same way I approached general software development. I realized that games should be approached from a slightly different framework and game testing had different needs. Though I had experience with creating educational games, I learned a lot about designing games that modeled real world systems. It was very different to model a game after a system to teach a concept instead of integrating the educational concept in the game mechanics and tutorial, In addition, when I signed up for this class I thought I would be learning how to design and develop video games specifically as opposed to learning about the fundamentals of games and how to integrate social and economic issues into the game narrative.
Class Learnings
In class, I came in with the desire to create a game centered around entrepreneurship and startups. Motivated by my experience as a founder as well as the HBO show Silicon Valley, I wanted to create a game that taught players about the difficulties founders encounter when trying to build a company. This idea manifested itself in my P1 project, Tethics. Through P1, I realized the difficulty with integrating a socioeconomic system within a game. Furthermore, I had no experience with creating a board game.
While there were several similarities with creating a video game, board games had a unique challenge of being very difficult to playtest. Making modifications in between play tests was not as simple as changing a few lines of code. After redesigning the cards, we had to adjust the positioning and print for the new set. This drastically increased the amount of time it took to iterate in between each test. In general, playtesting a board game was a lot more time intensive. However, compared to any video game playtests I’ve conducted, I was able to gauge the emotional response and player dynamics of the game more clearly. By seeing the players’ facial reactions, body language, and conversations, we were able to get a better understanding about what made the game fun. As a result, we were able to focus the design of the game’s features more efficiently. Prior to the class, I did not think there would be such a big difference in playtesting a board game from a video game.
After seeing the responses from P1, I decided to work on Tethics for my P4 project. For P4, we aimed to refine the design of the game, improve the game balance, and make the overall experience more fun, while also teaching about entrepreneurship. To do so, we had to playtest a LOT more. Throughout the playtests, we learned a lot about how specific features increased player dynamics, which increased the overall fun of the experience. Over 7 playtests, we modified the core game mechanics and then focused on features that increased player interaction.
As such, the key lesson I took away from CS 377G is that there is never enough playtesting. The game can always continue to evolve and become more intuitive or fun. Even during our final playtest, our players thought of more ways for the game to have more replay value, thus being more fun long term. Despite having a great time, laughing, yelling, and literally rolling on the floor, the players thought there was still more room for the game to grow. We were very pleased to hear this response as it substantiated our desire to continue working on the project.
Future Work
In the future, I plan on further developing and launching Tethics. My partner, Alwyn, and I really enjoyed working on the project and after hearing all of our playtester’s “fun noises” and excitement over the game, we were motivated to move the project to the next level. In general, we worked a lot harder and longer on P4 than we initially intended due to the response we got from our playtests. We are very proud of the evolution of our game, specifically the modified rules from all the playtests. We believe that we made the game more engaging while teaching about building ethical startups more clearly. FWe aim to improve the game to the level we can sell the product. For our next steps, we plan on further developing the design of the game elements to make the overall design more stylized and consistent. Once we make the changes, we plan on launching a Kickstarter to fundraise the mass production of the game. Hopefully we are able to eventually distribute the game independently. Stay tuned for the link to our game!
