1.1 ANTLION prototyping
Balance: it seems they set it up with 2 different perspectives in mind: the player can either be the ant or the ant lion (good guy vs bad guy analogy?); seems like a fun idea to let the player choose which they are.
Model: good minimal design of the prototype: only included what is necessary (simple board and instructions).
Art: clean and simple artwork to display the necessary aspects of the game.
Mechanics: turn based and rolling of the dice to play.
Originality: an educational game featuring a little known 'bad guy' seems like a good idea. I like the idea of combining a strategy game with educational content.
Translation to paper: It seems like their testers got a good grasp of the game from the testing sessions.
Some other notes:
- good at recognizing what is feasible for the course
- strategy game: ant vs ant-lion (ant-lion is trying to knock it into a pit to devour it)
- simple prototype layout (board and dice and piece)
- sat next to subjects to observe and record; direct feedback
- good feedback and recommendations on what the testers liked/disliked
- good: used feedback to find that player would prefer to be ant (over ant-lion)
- well thought out goals (ant-lion for education purposes over anteater for fun)
- a little brief with what they are going to change in their game ... but good overall
1.3 MIZU: saving the world one droplet at a time ...
Balance: It looks like they put a lot of effort into balancing out their game
Model: Scrolling action during gameplay and turn based during fighting; artwork to show the different characters of the game.
Art: very good, pretty artwork; it looks like the put a lot of time into it.
Mechanics: splash attacks; dice rolls - different numbers result in different attacks that are also based on your droplet size. Fighting is based on proximity to a 'bad guy'.
Originality: Very original, I like the idea of using elements and being water.
Translation to paper: It seems like the paper prototype didn't completely mimic the game concept and what it will be digitally (but I think that just happens sometimes - some mechanics are really hard to translate)
Some other notes:
- find four elemental gems by exploring different elements of the world (air, earth, fire, vs water)
- i like the idea of charging your splash attacks
- got their level and art concept solidified
- a little vague on the feedback from the testers
- good feedback on how realistically their paper prototype mimicked the game
Balance: incorporate different characters and skills into the prototype.
Model: paper based on D and D map; allowed them to easily incorporate feedback during testing.
Art: basic bare bones artwork (my preferred style for prototyping) that is easy to scratch out and redo (little time would be wasted); some good plastic figurines to represent the characters of the game.
Mechanics: combat; turn based; extensive use of puzzles.
Originality: it seems like a reasonable common genre of game.
Translation to paper: Seems like it translated fairly well; the identified areas where the prototype was lacking (ie pickups).
Some other notes:
- real time schoolyard fight game gone medieval
- plat-forming, puzzle solving
- stripped out large open level design (realistic goals)
- good goals for testing
- good variety of testers
- good versatility for changing the paper prototype based on immediate feedback from testers (using dd map)
- nice... tested different characters to compare
- excellent feedback from testers
- good conclusions based on feedback
- hurray for changing characters/sheets while testing
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