Hi
Does anyone have a good evaluation form for game tests? Normally I only write the comments down (I will continue with that) but I also want an evaluation form as a complement.
// Johan
Hi
Does anyone have a good evaluation form for game tests? Normally I only write the comments down (I will continue with that) but I also want an evaluation form as a complement.
// Johan
See FastLearner's website?
Thanks!
I will try to use that in my next session.
// Johan
I don't have an evaluation form that I use, but I was trying to think of the kinds of info that I like to track from playtest sessions, and what I'm finding is that the info I'll record is pretty game-specific, so it's hard to decide what a generic form would look like.
That said, I guess that the information that you want from any playtest are, at a minimum, the vital stats:
How many players?
How long did the game take to setup/explain/play?
How many turns did each player get? How long did the turns take?
What were the scores?
How were the scores arrived at? (for example, in Puerto Rico, give shipping/building/bonus breakdown; in Lost Cities, give scores from each round)
What triggered the game end? (for a game that can end multiple ways)
But really, I think the most useful info from a playtest report comes from a brief narrative that describes how the game went. What strategies did the various players pursue? Was it possible to formulate a strategic plan? How did they work -- were any too powerful? What did players think of the game? Would they play the game again? Would they buy the game? Were there any flaws that they perceived, or anything that was clearly broken in the game? Were there rules that were hard to understand? Were there aspects of the game that were too complex, or too simplistic? Did the game give enough options, or were decisions too obvious?
Answers to any of these questions can be very valuable. I've seen playtest form that have items like this "please rate, on a scale of 1-10, the strategic depth of the game." I'd be reluctant to adopt a survey-style evaluation like this, because it would be hard to know what the numbers mean. I'm much more interested in a short paragraph that qualitatively describes the session, rather than trying to interpret a survey and go from that to actionable changes.
Anyone have a doc file that does basically the same thing but doesn't cost me 14 bucks to get some sheets of?
I'm sure with Word and 5 minutes, you could whip something up for yourself. The advantage of Matthew's product is that he's done the work for you, and put it together in an attractive package. Obviously, whether it's worth the money is your call to make.
-Jeff
Note that there is a piece of software called GameTracker that can track game sessions. It's not a form persay but you can use it as a database to keep track of your playtest sessions.
http://www.goldraven.com/GameTracker/GT.html
-Darke
The reason I need a review paper is that during our test sessions we test between 4-8 games with 1-3 groups (that test the same game) at the same time. After the game we discuss the game, but I have to have streamline the information.
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Anyone have a doc file that does basically the same thing but doesn't cost me 14 bucks to get some sheets of?