{"id":217,"date":"2017-01-23T11:00:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zemindgames.com\/blog\/?p=217"},"modified":"2017-01-23T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T16:33:13","slug":"testing-testing-1-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zemindgames.com\/blog\/testing-testing-1-2-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing, Testing, 1-2-3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prototype for our card game!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week we were polishing up the core of our card game, when it dawns on me that there hasn\u2019t been a game played in the office that I haven\u2019t been a part of in some sense or another- and this is concerning.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the deal? <\/span><\/p>\n

The game \u2018Mega Fighters\u2019, (as it\u2019s working title has come to be called,) is about reducing your opponent\u2019s health to zero using a combination of cards representing punches, kicks, and grappling moves. Custom card games can be a bit complicated on their own, but when designed to simulate the gamesmanship of physical combat, nuance goes straight out the window.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the solid foundations of the game has been laid, it\u2019s time for a crucial part of any game development: The testing. Simultaneously the best and worst part of a game\u2019s pre-launch sequence, the testing is days, weeks or even months long.<\/span><\/p>\n

So to test effectively, we\u2019ve printed out the hard copy board game edition of the rules and asked a test duo to play the game as intended without any interference. So far it\u2019s turned out pretty well, although a fair amount questions do pop up. These questions have required quite a bit of explanation.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what have we learned from that experience?<\/span><\/p>\n

The game\u2019s instructions (from a tabletop perspective) aren\u2019t clear enough. As a bit of a self-horn toot, it\u2019s easy to over explain things when you\u2019re passionate about the projects you work on. This however can lead to excessive\u00a0directions\u00a0in the \u2018Basic\u2019 rule set and often extends the play time un-necessarily.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a method of shortening the distance between starting and playing, the solution we\u2019re up for trying will be the flow chart method. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. No one wants to sift through pages and pages of instruction just to play a 20 minute game (even though most of this will happen automatically as a mobile app, we won\u2019t close the door on the tabletop edition just yet). <\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll let you know what the feedback is for our new flow-chart instructions! Maybe they\u2019ll help the direction of your next title as well. Don\u2019t forget, if you\u2019ve got a method of letting us know the BEST way to convey card game instructions, we\u2019d love to hear it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reach out to us on social media to do so!<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlie Ze Newbie<\/p>\n

We promise you won’t be disappointed:
\nFollow @ZeMindGames<\/a>