Playtest 4
Open Beta Playtest

Due: Not Turned In

Today is the last playtesting session of the semester. Today we are going to make things a bit more formal. We actually want you to bring a testing script so that you can have a more organized approach to your playtesting. We also ask that you bring at least two devices capable of running your game. If this is not possible, please contact a staff member before this lab is held.

Playtesting Session

In preparation for this session, you should write a 5-10 minute test plan. Feel free to use the same script that you used for playtesting in this release. However, you can use an alternate script if that one was too complex for the course time period. Ideally, your plan should include the following elements:

• Your artifacts (what are you testing?)
• A 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

To help you in writing your material, you should remember the playtesting lecture from the introductory course. In addition, you might want to look at the following online material:

Testing The Design With Users

This is a chapter from an online text about the basic principals of user testing

Cognitive Walkthrough

This wikipedia entry describes 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.

Working on the Two-Week Report

The other major activity this week is the two-week report. If you finish playtesting early -- which can happen because technical prototypes are still a bit simple -- you may start work on the two-week prototype. However, we want you to make a good faith effort at playtesting (at least 20 minutes) before starting work on the report.