Playtesting with Strangers Response

Thinking back, I do not believe that I’ve really had the occasion to test any of my small game projects, either for this class or otherwise, with non-designers. Whenever I have made games, I have done so in a context of Stanford’s small game design community which thus become my playtesters.

I do my best to listen to my playtesters. After all, games are only as valuable as their players believe. However, I suffer at listening to my games. I often find that it is difficult to change my original idea or to incorporate new ideas that would change it in some significant way. Perhaps I internally take it as a judgement against my original idea and thereby against me. However, listening to myself has helped me do some great things before, so I just need to strike a better balance, and that comes with experience.

Observing the physical states of the players can often be more truthful than listening to the players themselves. We live in a world where negative truths can be difficult to tell. But the body lies less. I try to notice laughter and expression of my playtesters, though I will admit that kind words can be very distracting.

I usually graphic design some elements of my games to give the playtesters the best possible aesthetic experience. I believe that theme and mechanics are often intimately related and that the art can be very important. As such I try to balance these two at all stages of development if possible.

I find it very difficult to remove myself from the playtest and to avoid helping, though I have practicing this skill lately, and I am getting better. It is one of the hardest things in the world to watch your design, your child, get mistreated, but usually it is for the best.

Finding strangers to playtest seems as if it will pose a large challenge. This is in part due to the fact that I am shy and not generally socially proactive. However, I recognize the great importance of this step.