The third week of the Pixelles Incubator 3 is complete! We spent most of our time reviewing each other’s prototypes and getting lots of 1 on 1 time with this week’s mentor Tali Goldstein.
Tali is a Line Producer at Minority and had lots to say about project scope and the importance of Playtesting.
Scoping
For scoping, Tali recommends realistically budgeting your time taking in consideration your own quirks and sub-optimal tendancies. If you know you want to spend a ton of time on character design or need to procrastinate, account for it in your planning! Adding in ‘buffer’ time can make you planning more manageable.
For more information on scoping, especially for you Follow-Alongers, we recommend you check out previous Pixelles post on Polish and Rescoping.
Playtesting
When it comes to playtesting, Tali has a few recommendations as well.
- Give your players context when asking them to playtest. Tell them what your game is about, how it’s going to be shown, what the intentions are, it will let them see further and ‘get’ your game more even if your prototype is very barebones.
- Focus on specific features. If you’re testing a jumping mechanic for instance, you might ask your players: “How did the jumping feel?” or “The controls felt responsive. Strongly Disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly Agree”. Try to formulate questions that can’t be answered by a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
- Playtest often. The more thoroughly you playtest and listen to player feedback, the greater opportunities you have to learn and grow your game!
For more information on playtesting, check out this previous Pixelles blog post on Playtesting.
Homework
- Playtest your game! Don’t be shy, get your coworkers/ fellow students / loving family to play your game with every iteration you take! When you listen to your players, your game will become stronger.
- Isolate the Next Step for your game. What is the next thing you need to do to work towards completing your game? This should be something concrete, like adding platforms to a platformer or developing gameplay systems.
- Keep working! Only 3 weeks left!
Don’t hesitate to send us any questions, ask for feedback, or bounce ideas. Use the FB Group! You can send us e-mails at moms@pixelles.ca.
