DToW #8 (Unpub lessons)

What was the biggest benefit of the Unpub this past Saturday?

Honestly I think it was the deadline, and the pressure we put on ourselves.  Mike, AJ (our publisher) and I really started drilling down and getting things ready for play testing this weekend and the game improved so much in just 2 days of emails and intense play testing (even before we went).  The fear of failure in front of your peers is a strong motivator.  The games were good before this weekend, but really came together well in the final stretch.

What lessons did you learn by playing your games?

The biggest thing I took out of the session was watching people's reactions.  What were they confused by?  What didn't they see as beneficial? What took too long?  When did the game bog down? What didn't sync in thematically?  All these things can be learned through observation.  Certainly getting the feedback, and suggestions at the end was great and all those will be considered.  But sometimes you don't get too much feedback.  And you don't want those sessions to be wasted, so it is key to be observant during the test.  For that reason it is always better to sit on the sideline and watch.  I try not to help too much (although it is hard) because I want to see what strategies people gravitate toward.  What is interesting to them when they see the board.

Did you play any other game?

Yes, I love playing other peoples games at these events.  Not only to see what cool new concept, or twist, they came up with, but also to test my designer brain.  Can I figure out a solution to a problem they have been having with the game.  If it seems polished, can I break it with a certain strategy.  If it is early, what are the key parts of the game that can be built around and what needs to be taken out, or refined.

I heard you played a game that was almost complete, what happened there?

One of the games I played was very polished looking.  You could tell they were years into the design as there were many charts and tables.  Lots of chits on your board and many cards to look through.  Honestly it was all very overwhelming at first.  Behind it all was a very good game that just needed to have some trimming done.  We talked about some chits on the board that tracked things for realism, but didn't add much to the game.  Taking them out streamlined gameplay without changing anything.  And it was one less thing to look at and set up from the start.

And?

Next we talked about the charts.  There were lots of charts, but not all of them were used at the same time.  So we talked about separating the charts, not by theme, but by when they were used in the game.  That way you didn't have to look at all the charts when you sat down, you could get them when you needed them.  Again, reducing the overstimulation when you sat down.

Lastly?

The key change we made was instead of getting 12 cards at the start of the game, you only got 5.  This doesn't seem like a lot but with there being 3 things you could use each card for 12 was way too many at one time unless you knew the game really well.  There were 3 phases so the same number of cards still came out over these phases, they just came out slower so you didn't get information overload.  You got 5, then 4, then 3.  In the end you still had lots of options without the wave of complexity when you first sat down.

Lesson Learned?

I feel like a broken record sometimes.  The honest answer is streamline.  We figured out the biggest hurdle to the game was just getting started.  We simplified this so people could get to the good game underneath.  Look for things that don't add anything to the game and remove them.  Try to reduce the visual clutter, or the amount of information people have to take in at one time.

Any other games?

I want to talk about them all, but I will just cover one more.  It had very interesting mechanics, but was still pretty rough around the edges.  The first thing that jumped out at me though was that everyone did exactly the same thing on the first 2 turns.  So players later in the order had to pay more to do the same thing people earlier were doing.  At first we thought this was the problem and tried to come up with a solution for balancing that.  Then we realized it was a bigger problem.  Why have the first two turns if everyone is doing the same thing?  After asking that question the designer agreed that it happened that way every game.  We decided that the real fix was to cut the first two turns and start players with different resources to make the market more interesting.  This also had the benefit of shaving time off the game.

Lesson Learned?

Sometimes the problem isn't what you think it is.  Sometimes the problem is deeper, or simpler.  Sometimes it takes other eyes to see that.  When you come up against a problem that seems too daunting, or the fix will change some fundamentals of the game, make sure you are fixing the right problem.  Try to re-examine it in your mind.  Make sure there isn't an easier, or better solution.

Time!!!

Already?  Thanks for joining me again this week.  Next week we are going to cover working with your publisher.  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.