I've brought this up in the chatroom with a couple people in the last few days, and I think it's a great topic for a brown bag chat. The topic is 'Soliciting feedback from playtesters', and the goal is to prepare a Feedback form for playtesters to fill out after a playtest and help glean useful information.
This would be particularly good for blind testers. I'd like to get a form like this together for my own playtest session coming up, but it would also be useful in the American Hippodice contest (early judging rounds).
I would volunteer to host, but I can't guarantee I'll be there. I will try, and while I'm there I will spur conversation on that topic- I've got some ideas from chatting about it with FastLearner, Nando, and Rick.
Thoughts?
- Seth
I have no links. Here's what I've got so far:
Personal Info/Preference Sheet:
Something to identify the playtester, where they're coming from - what games/themes/genres they like/dislike andmaybe their demographic. One question to put to the group might be wheather the forms should be anonymous (do playtesters care about that? Does it matter to us as designers?)
Generic game feedback form:
The meat of the feedback, a generic form that would apply to all games. Broken into sections as follows:[ul]
[li]Fun[ul]
[li]Did you enjoy the game? Why or why not?
[li]Rate this game on a scale of boring to exciting
[li]Compare this game to a published game, does it feel similar to playing Munchkin? Tigris & Euphrates? Settlers? Dungeons and Dragons? etc
[li]That kind of question.[/ul]
[li]Theme[ul]
[li]Was the theme of the game interesting to you?
[li]Did the actions of the game fit the theme?
[li]Is there another theme that might fit the actions of the game better?
[li]That kind of thing[/ul]
[li]Rules
[li]Were you confused by the rules?
[li]Did you understand the rules better after seeing them in action?
[li]Did you notice any seemingly unecessary rules or contradictory rules?
[li]Were you able to see how the rules related to the goal of the game?
[li]Those types of things[/ul]
[/ul]
Some of the items might be of the multiple choice, 1-5 type, with a little description next to each. I'd like it to be easy for the playtester to respond without it feeling like work for them, but I'd also like to have the feedback be useful.
Finally, a Game Specific form for questions a designer may have on specific rules or mechanics that apply only to a particular game. Sometimes there would be none, but for example if Scurra and I were not happy with the combat system in All For One we might try to solicit specific feedback on how to make that part of the game more enjoyable.
My vision is that each playtester would get 1 personal info sheet at the beginning, then for each game they'd get 1 sheet with the generic stuff on one side, and game specific stuff (if any) on the other.
What I think the chat session would be good for is tweaking the format so it is the most useful, but mostly defining the questions to be asked.
- Seth