Closed Beta Playtest

This playtesting session is for closed beta. While you will not start public playtesting until the next release (hence the name open beta), we still want this playtesting session to be a little more formal. Hence this time, we will ask you to prepare a test plan, as described below.

Note that this discussion might be held before your in-class presentation*. In that case, we still want you to bring your prototype for playtesting even if it is not 100% finished. Because of the challenges with running mobile prototypes, you will get better feedback faster if we can play your prototypes in discussion.

Preparation

In preparation for this playtest, you should write a 5-10 minute test plan, as discused in the lecture on player testing fromt the introductory course. We do not want an in-depth user study experiement. All we want is a script that outlines what the person manning your game station should be doing. This plan should include the following elements:

• Your artifacts (what are you testing?)
• A brief welcome script (what do you say to the player?)
• A task or two (what should the player do?)
• A few of questions to ask of the player

Here are some resources to help you with this format.

• Testing The Design With Users: A chapter from an online text about the basic principals of user testing
• Cognitive Walkthrough: The wikipedia entry describing a basic tenant of user testing

That is all that there is to this session. We are not expecting formal questionairres or rigorous data collection in section.

Two-Week Report

In the past, we have allowed you to work on the two week report in section. However, we are not going to allow that this time. We are late enough in the development cycle that we want you to spend the entire class on playtesting. We want you to make a serious effort to understand your game.