🎮 Today's Playtesting Focus

Different from Week 11 Playtesting:

Evaluation Criteria:

• Completeness (does it feel finished?)
• Fun factor (is it enjoyable?)
• Polish (does it look/sound good?)
• Clarity (is everything understandable?)
• Stability (bugs and performance)

🔄 Playtest Session Structure

20-Minute Rotation per Game:

1. Introduction (2 min):
   • Developer gives 30-second context
   • Explains controls only (not strategy)
   • Sets up playtesters
2. Full Playthrough (10 min):
   • Playtesters play from start to finish
   • Developer observes silently, takes notes
   • Multiple testers can play in sequence or parallel
3. Structured Feedback (8 min):
   • Using feedback form (provided)
   • Rate: Fun, Polish, Clarity, Difficulty
   • Open discussion

📋 Vertical Slice Feedback Form

Rating Categories (1-5 scale):

Written Feedback:

• Best moment: What was most fun?
• Worst moment: What was frustrating?
• Bugs found: List any issues
• Suggestions: 1-2 specific improvements

👀 What to Watch For (Developers)

Critical Observations:

• First Impression:
  • Reaction to visuals and sound
  • Time to understand controls
  • Engagement level at start
• During Play:
  • Moments of confusion
  • Points where they smile or lean in (engagement)
  • Frustration or boredom indicators
  • Deaths/failures - fair or cheap?
• End State:
  • Did they reach the win/lose state?
  • Reaction to completion
  • Did they want to retry or play more?
• Technical Issues:
  • Bugs encountered
  • Performance drops
  • Audio/visual glitches

👥 Playtesting Rotation

Group Structure:

Groups of 4 students - each student gets 20 minutes as developer

Today's Schedule:

• Round 1: Developer A (20 min)
• Round 2: Developer B (20 min)
• Break: 10 minutes
• Round 3: Developer C (20 min)
• Round 4: Developer D (20 min)
• Group Debrief: 10 minutes

⚠️ Common Issues at This Stage

Scope Creep:

• Problem: Tried to add too much, nothing is polished
• Solution: Cut features for Alpha, focus on polish

Incomplete Systems:

• Problem: Win/lose states missing or broken
• Solution: Prioritize completeness over new features

Difficulty Imbalance:

• Problem: Too easy (boring) or too hard (frustrating)
• Solution: Playtest data will reveal this - adjust variables

Performance Issues:

• Problem: Frame drops, lag, stuttering
• Solution: Profile and optimize - object pooling, reduce particles

Lack of Juice:

• Problem: Feels flat despite working mechanics
• Solution: Add screen shake, particles, sound - quick wins

🎮 Playtesting Sessions Begin!

Next 90 Minutes:

• Break into assigned groups
• 4 rounds of 20-minute playtest sessions
• Fill out feedback forms thoroughly
• Take detailed developer notes

Reminders:

• ✅ Be respectful and constructive
• ✅ Focus on the experience, not just bugs
• ✅ Think aloud while playing
• ✅ Developers: observe, don't defend

💬 Class Debrief

Share with Class (Volunteers):

• What surprised you most about your playtests?
• What feedback was most valuable?
• What's working better than expected?
• What needs more work than you thought?
• Most interesting game you played today (and why)?

Key Lessons:

• Quality > Quantity - polished slice beats rough sprawl
• Completeness matters - players notice unfinished edges
• First impressions count - polish sells your vision
• Playtesting reveals truth - trust the data

🎯 Next Week: Alpha Build

What is Alpha?

Feature-complete build with all planned content, but rough edges acceptable.

Alpha = Vertical Slice + All Features:

• All levels/content implemented
• All mechanics and systems working
• Full game can be played start to finish
• Bugs are acceptable (but track them)
• Polish can be uneven
• Placeholder art/sound OK in some areas

Focus This Week:

• Expand beyond your vertical slice
• Implement remaining features
• Add all planned levels/content
• Fix critical bugs from today
• Don't worry about perfection yet

💻 Week 14: Code Review Component

Next week includes code review session

Prepare Your Code:

• Clean up and organize scripts
• Add comments to complex logic
• Remove dead/unused code
• Ensure design patterns are clearly implemented
• Push latest code to GitHub

What We'll Review:

• Design pattern implementations
• Code organization and architecture
• Performance considerations
• Best practices adherence

📝 Homework & Deliverables

Due by Week 14:

1. Alpha Build:
   • Feature-complete game
   • All levels/content implemented
   • Playable start to finish
2. Bug Tracker:
   • Document all known bugs
   • Prioritize: Critical, High, Medium, Low
   • Add to GDD or separate doc
3. Code Cleanup:
   • Organize and comment code
   • Prepare for code review
   • Push to GitHub
4. Feedback Summary (Submit to Canvas):
   • Summary of today's playtesting
   • What you're changing based on feedback
   • Updated feature list for Alpha

📝 Summary

Today's Accomplishments:

• ✅ Showcased Vertical Slice builds
• ✅ Conducted thorough playtest sessions
• ✅ Evaluated completeness and quality
• ✅ Received structured feedback
• ✅ Identified bugs and improvement areas
• ✅ Planned Alpha Build scope

Key Insights:

• Vertical Slice proves you can finish your vision
• Polish in one area > rough implementation everywhere
• Playtesting reveals invisible issues
• Time to expand to full feature set

Final push begins - Alpha next week! 💪