Playtest 3
Alpha Playtest

Due: Not Turned In

Today's playtesting session is for the alpha release. Historically, this session is more structured than the prototype follow-ups, in that you are expected to bring a test plan and script to the playtest. However, that lecture got delayed because of the snow day. Therefore, we will not be requiring an official test script until the beta release.

While you can run on the computers in the classroom, we would like to keep everyone spaced far enough apart to allow people to move about the room. Therefore, we ask that you bring at least two laptops capable of running your prototype. If this is not possible, please contact a staff member before this lab is held.

Lab Format

The set-up should be the similar to previous playtests. You should have one (or two) people stationed by the machines as people play. You should swap out the attending team members so that they are not the same person for the entire class period.

Even though we are not requiring an official test script for this playtest, we recommend that you give your playtester little "quests" and see how they respond. This can be as straight-forwad as "complete the level." But it can also be mini-tasks like "Take the character over here."

This is the reason why you might want to have two people stationed. One person should be talking to the player and giving tasks. The other can simply be watching and taking notes while this happens. We will talk about this approach to playtesting in the next lecture.