Designing a game to playtest a different game?

Is it reasonable to design a game to better understand how a different game will function?

There is a LARP that is played across college campuses world wide called Humans Vs Zombies. The game first started out with very simple rules and has been evolving. Currently the more complected versions of the game are started to develop a Choose your own adventure feel to them. While I feel this is an important step forward for the game I can't see a reasonable way to play test the decision making elements that create the choose your own adventure feel without trying to design a board game version that focuses on this part of the game.

Humans vs zombies normally takes place once per semester and last from around a week and depending on the school can have upward of 1000 people playing. Through out the week there are missions and the players must complete a certain amount of missions before the game is over. It is normally these missions that are used as the decision making points for the choose your own adventure model of the game.

What I want to do is design a board game simulate a game of hvz that can be played by 1 or more people. The core game play mechanic will be deciding what missions to do and not to do in an attempt to get the best ending. This will hopefully allow me to see what the decision making process for the players of the really HvZ game and adjust the game appropriately before the game starts.

I've never heard of designing a game to help design a game. Is this a wise approach? Should the fun experienced by the board game players play a smaller roll in design this game? Any advice?