{"id":134,"date":"2017-04-03T20:47:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T20:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/?p=134"},"modified":"2018-10-31T04:25:16","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T04:25:16","slug":"the-arty-of-party-part-2-playtesting-your-party-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/the-arty-of-party-part-2-playtesting-your-party-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arty of Party: Part 2: Playtesting Your Party Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

In The Arty of Party: Part 1<\/a> I wrote about the party game genre in general and described some of the subgenres. This week, I\u2019ll go into the nitty-gritty of designing your party game, in particular running it through playtests. If you\u2019ve primarily worked in strategy games or similar, you\u2019ll find the experience to be fairly different. However, it doesn\u2019t require any special skills \u2013\u00a0you just need to evaluate the game in a different way than you\u2019re used to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriter\u2019s Room\u201d Playtests<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I mentioned, the majority of your work in a party game will be coming up with funny prompts. The average game will only use a tiny fraction of these, so to make sure that the majority of your prompts are funny, you\u2019ll want to have two kinds of playtests: Regular ones where you show your game to people you don’t know, and what I call a \u201cwriter\u2019s room\u201d playtest.<\/p>\n

To do this, you\u2019ll need a group of friends and\/or interested people who want to help work on your game. First, run two or three games with them so they understand how it works. Then, read off the list of prompts you\u2019ve developed and, with their help, sort them into \u201cYes,\u201d \u201cMaybe,\u201d and \u201cNo\u201d piles. Throw out everything in the \u201cNo\u201d pile and look at the \u201cMaybe\u201d prompts on a later date. Having a lot of people with different senses of humor is especially useful as you get more perspective on whether a prompt works or not.<\/p>\n

For pitch games, it\u2019s also important that all the cards flow grammatically with one another. Pick out five or so cards and, for each new one you create, briefly check to see if it sounds weird when combined with any of the other five. As you work alone and with your writer\u2019s room, you\u2019ll find yourself coming up with cards that meet the requirements more and more quickly as you get used to the constraints of your game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to hold \u201cwriter\u2019s room\u201d playtests every couple of weeks as you continue to test your game and develop additional prompts.<\/p>\n

Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you do your regular playtests, the most important thing, obviously, is that everyone has fun. However, there\u2019s a more scientific approach than constantly interviewing your players to see if they enjoyed it.Though it’s difficult to quantify fun, it’s much easier to quantify engagement, and if your game is\u00a0good enough, engagement should be fun anyway.<\/p>\n

Engagement is a concern for strategy games, as well \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s no fun to wait helplessly for several minutes as Slow-Play Steve spends forever thinking about his turn \u2013\u00a0but even a short period of nonengagement in a party game can be fatal. The best way to tell how engaged players will be in your party game is to create a time diagram, mentally or on paper, of how a round passes.<\/p>\n

Within this diagram, create three categories: Action<\/em>, where the player makes a choice or otherwise does something; Entertaining Inaction<\/em>, where the player isn\u2019t doing anything but is being entertained by another player; and Inaction<\/em>, where the player is just twiddling their thumbs and waiting for something to happen. Then, run your prototype for a few rounds and create a rough graph of how long a player spends in each state and when. Here\u2019s an example graph for a round of a non-judge player playing\u00a0Apples to Apples<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These graphs are inevitably very rough but they help you visualize how much each player gets to participate over the course of a round.<\/p>\n

Also important is the number of players engaged at one time. As you can see from the graph, only the judge gets to be active for the majority of the round of Apples to Apples<\/em>. However, in the game Quiplash<\/em>, all but two players serve as the \u201cjudge\u201d for each round, meaning that, although the selection\/judgement flow is essentially the same, many more players are actively participating for the majority of the round. In this way, even though the engagement chart would look similar, the game overall is more engaging and fun.<\/p>\n

Diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Making sure your party game appeals to a wide audience is one of the best ways to ensure it\u2019s a good game. Bring the game to places with a wide variety of age ranges, senses of humor, and experience levels with games\u00a0to make sure everyone has a good time. This also applies to setting: A bar or a party is a different place than your weekly game night, and it will be more challenging for anyone to focus on a game there.<\/p>\n

Even within your friend group, you can test for whether the game appeals to a diverse audience. Think about the shiest, most quiet\u00a0person playing: Are they enjoying the game? Are they winning about as often as anyone else at the table? If the answer is yes, your game is essentially accomplishing what it\u2019s supposed to by allowing everyone to participate in the generation of jokes.<\/p>\n

As you test for wide outreach, you may find that parts of your game aren\u2019t accessible to everyone. For example, when I tested Stand Back, Citizen!<\/em>, I found that the real-time gameplay, which emphasized being able to put together a combination of cards as fast as possible, was difficult for people who didn\u2019t fluently understand English. If there\u2019s any way that the core concept of your game can expand to be more accessible, make it a priority.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Time To Party<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if you aren\u2019t interested in creating a party game, I hope these two essays have at least convinced you that party games require just as much rigor as any other game design. If you\u2019re mostly used to games that involve a lot of silent thinking, you might want to dip a toe into the pool of making your players laugh. A peek into player psychology can benefit anyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In The Arty of Party: Part 1 I wrote about the party game genre in general and described some of the subgenres. This week, I\u2019ll go into the nitty-gritty of designing your party game, in particular running it through playtests. If you\u2019ve primarily worked in strategy games or similar, you\u2019ll find the experience to be fairly different. However, it doesn\u2019t require any special skills \u2013\u00a0you just need to evaluate the game in a different way than you\u2019re used to. \u201cWriter\u2019s Room\u201d Playtests As I mentioned, the majority of your work in a party game will be coming up with funny prompts. The average game will only use a tiny fraction of these, so to make sure that the majority of your prompts are funny, you\u2019ll want to have two kinds of playtests: Regular ones where you show your game to people you don’t know, and what I call a \u201cwriter\u2019s room\u201d playtest. To do this, you\u2019ll need a group of friends and\/or interested people who want to help work on your game. First, run two or three games with them so they understand how it works. Then, read off the list of prompts you\u2019ve developed and, with their help, sort them into \u201cYes,\u201d \u201cMaybe,\u201d and \u201cNo\u201d piles. Throw out everything in the \u201cNo\u201d pile and look at the \u201cMaybe\u201d prompts on a later date. Having a lot of people with different senses of humor is especially useful as you get more perspective on whether a prompt works or not. For pitch games, it\u2019s also important that all the cards flow grammatically with one another. Pick out five or so cards and, for each new one you create, briefly check to see if it sounds weird when combined with any of the other five. As you work alone and with your writer\u2019s room, you\u2019ll find yourself coming up with cards that meet the requirements more and more quickly as you get used to the constraints of your game. It\u2019s good to hold \u201cwriter\u2019s room\u201d playtests every couple of weeks as you continue to test your game and develop additional prompts. Engagement When you do your regular playtests, the most important thing, obviously, is that everyone has fun. However, there\u2019s a more scientific approach than constantly interviewing your players to see if they enjoyed it.Though it’s difficult to quantify fun, it’s much easier to quantify engagement, and if your game is\u00a0good enough, engagement should be fun anyway. Engagement is a concern for strategy games, as well \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s no fun to wait helplessly for several minutes as Slow-Play Steve spends forever thinking about his turn \u2013\u00a0but even a short period of nonengagement in a party game can be fatal. The best way to tell how engaged players will be in your party game is to create a time diagram, mentally or on paper, of how a round passes. Within this diagram, create three categories: Action, where the player makes a choice or otherwise does something; Entertaining Inaction, where the player isn\u2019t doing anything but is being entertained by another player; and Inaction, where the player is just twiddling their thumbs and waiting for something to happen. Then, run your prototype for a few rounds and create a rough graph of how long a player spends in each state and when. Here\u2019s an example graph for a round of a non-judge player playing\u00a0Apples to Apples: These graphs are inevitably very rough but they help you visualize how much each player gets to participate over the course of a round. Also important is the number of players engaged at one time. As you can see from the graph, only the judge gets to be active for the majority of the round of Apples to Apples. However, in the game Quiplash, all but two players serve as the \u201cjudge\u201d for each round, meaning that, although the selection\/judgement flow is essentially the same, many more players are actively participating for the majority of the round. In this way, even though the engagement chart would look similar, the game overall is more engaging and fun. Diversity Making sure your party game appeals to a wide audience is one of the best ways to ensure it\u2019s a good game. Bring the game to places with a wide variety of age ranges, senses of humor, and experience levels with games\u00a0to make sure everyone has a good time. This also applies to setting: A bar or a party is a different place than your weekly game night, and it will be more challenging for anyone to focus on a game there. Even within your friend group, you can test for whether the game appeals to a diverse audience. Think about the shiest, most quiet\u00a0person playing: Are they enjoying the game? Are they winning about as often as anyone else at the table? If the answer is yes, your game is essentially accomplishing what it\u2019s supposed to by allowing everyone to participate in the generation of jokes. As you test for wide outreach, you may find that parts of your game aren\u2019t accessible to everyone. For example, when I tested Stand Back, Citizen!, I found that the real-time gameplay, which emphasized being able to put together a combination of cards as fast as possible, was difficult for people who didn\u2019t fluently understand English. If there\u2019s any way that the core concept of your game can expand to be more accessible, make it a priority. It\u2019s Time To Party Even if you aren\u2019t interested in creating a party game, I hope these two essays have at least convinced you that party games require just as much rigor as any other game design. If you\u2019re mostly used to games that involve a lot of silent thinking, you might want to dip a toe into the pool of making your players laugh. A peek into player psychology can benefit anyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.phantomknightgames.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}