Devlog #4 - Progress and Playtesting

Greetings! Our team has continued progress on research, character development, scenario building, and more. We’ve completed our second playtest and are excited to  share what we’ve learned and discussed regarding our next steps. Please check out the link at the end of the post to download our lastest prototype to play it for yourself.

Our Game Dev Progress

As explained in earlier posts, the team had decided on a coffee shop theme to frame our game. We began exploring the aesthetic setting through mood boards and researching an array of dating sim games for inspiration. Because our game aims to include the widest spectrum of gender, sexuality, and abilities, we decided that we would create a “species” of character within our game that would embody characteristics without being literal.  

Setting 

Our game is set in modern-day Chicago, Illinois, and is grounded in reality. Yet, there is a magical fantasy element that makes the environment unique. The Right Brew is a coffee shop where fantastic creatures can stop hiding and be themselves. 

Character Evolution 

The team continued to develop characters for the game. We looked to mythology for our first iteration of the romantic partners to give the shape of our character. We had determined that up to five romantic partners would embody different sets of characteristics that would tie into the research. We want these characters to embody qualities that exist in young relationships so the player can experience challenging interaction and insight into communication skills . We also started moodboards to collect inspiration for environments and physical appearances of the characters. (See Figure 1)

Fig. 1 Moodboard for character/environment development

Applying Research to Scenarios & Game Goals
Using Figjam, the team utilized affinity diagramming to review and group insights from the research to date including interviews, surveys and secondary research. The insights will be used to identify storyline themes and key teachable moments to inform the game chapter scenarios. (see figure 2)

Insights for key plot points and take-aways included;

Teachable Moments
Being Okay with Not Knowing

• What the partner’s want in physical interaction e.g. public displays of affection
• Goal of the relationship long term

The player may not be in a mental or life space where they can be a good romantic partner and being a friend is too overwhelming. This is a decision point to not be partners or friends for a while that doesn't involve fault.

Stand up for yourself/trust your instincts.

• If what you see is different from what you hear - trust it. E.g. Your partner is distant and you need to figure out (not attracted, bored, found someone else etc.)
• Communication skills: using your words
• Do you confront them, give them space, etc.

• E.g. making jealous decisions. Would need a storyline that lead up to this e.g. pressure to give a password to show that they’re being on the up and up. 

Don’t make the partner your whole life. Balance is key

Emotional intelligence: Active listening, validating partner’s feeling, self aware of your emotions 

Story Points (barriers and challenges)
When your identity/sexual preferences or questioning doesn’t line up with heteronormative expectations finding a partner is complex.

Anxiety of rejection or judgment. Find the courage to take action, and deal with potential rejection.

Pressure to be in a heteronormative relationship. It’s a status symbol.

• A point where the character is questioning whether the relationship is working but doesn’t want to be alone. 

Partners need to come to a shared agreement on whether they are casual or serious.

• Healthy communication about what each partner expects from the other - relationship status, interaction frequency e.g. how much time you spend together, how quickly you respond to a text, etc.

A time when the characters have to face a cultural challenge outside of their control. They are attracted to each other but family or cultural pressures make it hard to progress.

Exploring who you are but being overly influenced by being/appearing to be someone you think the other person would find most attractive. 

Fig. 2 Figjam workspace 

Playtesting Expanded Prototype

On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, between 6:00 pm-8:45 pm CST, our team observed a series of playtests performed by classmates of Games with a Purpose Spring 2021-2022 at DePaul University. Our team consists of five members. Two teammates, Santiago and Lynn, observed in-person playtesting sessions. The three remaining team members, Maelanny, Janet, and Irandy observed remote play sessions via Zoom. Playtesters had previously seen presentations about the game leading up to the play session and some had played the original prototype, so they had some orientation on the topic, goals, and approach. In addition, the majority of our playtesters are in the Game Design program, so we also consider them to fall into the category of game developers.  A total of 5 participants played and were interviewed at this time. 

What We Tested

Santiago had written 3 new scenarios and translated it into a branching narrative using the platform Twine. Our playtesters downloaded the Twine file locally and played as individuals. Players were presented with screens containing written scenarios and response choices. The first screen allowed players to give themselves a name (see Fig. 3) which is then integrated into the story. Subsequent screens allow the player to progress through the scenario by making a series of decisions by choosing from a prepopulated set of choices (see Fig. 4).

Fig. 3 The player may enter a custom name

Fig. 4 Players choose from a set of pre populated choices.

Our Playtesting Questions

• Environment (not incorporated in the game yet, but visuals were shown to playtesters)
  • Reactions to the look and feel?
  • Interface feedback?
• Romantic Partner Characters
  • Do they feel credible?
  • What resonates most with players?
• Twine Stories
  • Which elements of the story resonate most players?
  • If/where does it feel less credible?

Our Observation Summary

Visual treatments with proposed interfaces were shown. 

• Liked alley - Coffee sign is critical detail (see figure 5)
• Liked V2 - casual mystical feel, liked skyline (see figure 6)

About interface

• Consider accessibility - text to voice
• consider usability - participants missed options below the fold
• Can the player have the option to backtrack and choose another option? (good feedback, but want player to understand with relationships that all actions manner and needs to move forward in a linear manner)

Scenarios

• the character Amary felt like walking on eggshells
• Like the emotions expressed by Jishin, they feel real
• Clocked Jishin’s insecurity - suggested options
• Enjoyed taking a more adventurous route in Roux storyline than they would in real life
• Players appreciated the humor and character development 
• Players felt the amount of text reading was appropriate for story and age level. 
• Scenarios that were playtested were from different parts of the relationship timeline. This was confusing for the player to understand where they were in the relationship without seeing placement in a timeline.
• Not all players understood the ‘lessons’ or main takeaways from the scenario interactions. (Due in part that the scenario tested is just one chapter of 3-4 in this ‘relationship’ development)

• General
  • Mothers of teens: game good conversation starter
  • Things that teens would enjoy about the game: YA feel, fantasy setting, spectrum of representation

Full note observations from remote testing (via zoom)

Investigators: Janet Hill (main moderator), Irandy Perez, and Maelanny Alcantara

Participants: P1 (K.B.) , P2 (J.C.), P3 ( T.S.), P4 (M)

Participant type: Familiar with the game scope

Summary

• Player impacts from the PRPs – understanding the learning goal per character
  • There were a couple confusions about the player impact from the different characters.
• Scenario Reactions
  • There were a lot of funny reactions, where the participants tended to laugh at the choices they had to make. Players are honest that some choices are not what they would pick in real life but are curious to check the outcomes
    • Example 1: Entering Jishin’s Apartment – at least one participant mentioned that they found it a bit weird that the reactions from Jishin didn’t change much despite the extreme choice of actions that the player’s character made (like kicking the door)
    • Persona concern of Jishin: There is a concern that Jishin’s sensitive personality isn’t drastically presented in his scenes 
  • P3 felt the most related to Jishin’s storyline because he tends to apologize a lot when mistakes happen and take responsibility for fixing things, not as much as Amery’s

P1 - Kedrick

• Walking through Amary:
  • While playing - not a whole lot of verbal reaction
  • Feedback: Like that it gave the player some control over the situation that happens, politely can say no

Game Responses:

“Stop her gently, not like this”

“Thank you for telling me, I understand”

• Likes that the player has control → not the right time 

• Walking through Jishin:  
  • While playing - verbally giggling while reading and going through options. 
  • Feedback: 
    • Mentioned would include traits upfront/make it more clear in the dialog. 
    • Felt like reacting off his instincts but would like some insights more into the character
    • Picked options based off of his reactions but mentioned if knew the character more might have reacted differently
    • Enough information to understand situation and what was happening
    • “Some of the dialog was funny” 
    • Mentioned liking in games give the capability to go back on options - if lead down a “wrong” path has the capability to go back and choose a different path

Jishin Game Responses:

1. “Knock on the door”
2. “Put some salt”
3. “Hey don’t worry” (first option) – laughed at the options
4. “It was your first time cooking . . .”
5. “It’s getting late . Let’s just forget this happened” . . .

Suggestions

• Make it more clear about their traits in the dialogues – felt like he just goes through the games based on his instincts
  • Kedrick bases answers from his instinct 

Comments

• Some of the parts were “chuckle” funny
• Likes it when he can go back to the choices to see what else he can do
  • We removed it in the prototype

P2 - Julian

• Feedback
  • Walking through Jishin - 
    • Wasn't sure what the PRP was trying to teach. Was more clear with Amary as far as rushing through a relationship 
  • Walking through Amary - 
  • Walking through Roux - 
    • Mention its a different style then the other two characters (wanted to try other paths after walking through it once)
    • Mentions it deals with bravery 
  • Mentioned it was hard to get back to the other characters
  • Mentions most of the choice seem like “common sense” - more likely to choose the kinder answer
    • “Can't imagine that everyone would be the worst”
  • Seemed confused on the scoring (mentioned it was present in first prototype but not in the second)
  • Commented that there seemed to be a shift from the 1st prototype: navigating in a relationship vs dating (second prototype)
  • Feedback around maybe have the characters already be in a relationship and navigating that
  • Felt like there wasn't a clear indicator as to how much time has passed in between the dialog. 
    • Time Stamp would be helpful (day 1, month 2 etc)
  • Was confused by relationship flow with nothing path - team explained to him that it meant parting ways.

P3 (Tony) & P4 (Matt)

• Walking through Amary
  • Talked/read through the scenarios outload
  • Mentioned some of the dialog was funny 
  • Mentioned was able to imagine the scene as reading through the dialog
  • Realizes when chooses “wrong path”
  • Felt Amary character was respectful 
  • Felt like it was a real life scenario
  • “Felt genuine” “respect between two people”
  • Would like to get a deeper understanding 
• Walking through Jishin
  • Mentions when going through the different options would want their own option 
    • Space to write their own response 
  • Commented that one of the options “sounds like someone they know” 
  • “Genuine, real, could imagine themselves as the character” 

Game Responses

• “Knock on the door . . .”
  • Did he clean because you were coming (Thinks that this is a big word)
• “Put some salt on that . . .”
• Would like a personal option on the “Hey” conversation
  • Would have wanted to say “It was my fault” – says sorry a lot
  • “Hey don’t worry. We can get something delivered”
• “Cooking (1st out of the last option)
• “It makes sense that you are feeling frustrated . . .”

• Feedback
  • Felt like could relate more to Jishin story then Amary 
  • Amary dialog skipped over some details - maybe should include an additional question to feel more “natural” 
  • Dilemmas/decisions feel realistic
  • Could include phrasing to suggest age range
• Additional Comments

• Imagines that the character was him
  • Helps with how he interacts with the game
• Likes the other story more because he’s a guy
  • Felt real to me – something I would totally do
• Reading length was pretty good
  • Skip some Amary details – more of a teenager story
  • Jishin is more of a college aged relation
• The Kick door answer should lead to another convo path – same next response could be weird/awkward
• Jishin’s apartment: Hallway, to the left is the main kitchen, then goes to the living room past the hallway. There is a bar room. Couch and TV
• Age isn’t visible
• Mentioning sorry with the name and “wonder what happened” triggers a FIRST DATE experience – worrying of being stood up
• Tony is aware that dating apps are meant to be used by 18+ 
  • But teens meet on social media

Full notes observations from in person testing 

Investigators: Lynn Baus & Santiago Posada-Jaramillo 

Participants: J.B. & H.J.

Participant type: New Player, had seen presentation on concept, first time playing

Figure 5 (entrance to the coffee shop)

• Participant 1
  • German rave vibes. Harry Potter-asque. Mysterious, curious as to what goes on
  • The “Coffee” lighted sign makes a big difference, makes it inviting, without it would seem sinister
• Participant 2
  • Reminds her of Amsterdam
  • Intrigued would investigate 

Slide 12

• Participant 1
  • Accessibility: offer a text to voice option
  • Likes it when text is segmented into smaller sections

Slide 16

Version 1

Figure 6 (version 2 is preferred interior feel for coffee shop)

Participant 1 & Participant 2

• Preference version 2, confirmed version 1, is too upscale and expensive for the target audience (both women have teen children). 
• Version 1 would be for young professionals.Participant 2: “Teens don’t want to be bothered. This looks like a server would come for your order.”  
• Version 2, good casual vibe. Looks like a place teens/young people would hang out and scope out who’s coming and going.Participant 2: “It’s mysterious, and it jibes with the alleyway.”
• Liked the Chicago skyline in the background. Enhanced the cozy feel inside. 

Potential Romantic Partner feedback (before playtesting Twine)

Lynn & Santiago read from the slides to introduce the characters

1. Amary
   1. No questions/comments
2. Jishin
   1. Participant 2: “Goodbye!” (meaning Jishin seemed like too much work)
3. Roux
   1. Curious to see more about them, Participant 1: “There’s a sense of excitement about them already”.
   2. Character type was familiar, Participant 1: “I get narcissistic vibes.”
4. Kumiho
   1. Strong reaction from Participant 1, she identified with the research quote. Had been in a relationship with someone from another religion and it didn’t work out. Responded to the pressure aspect of the scenario - some cultural force that’s bigger than the players preferences.
   2. Participant 2: has a family member who married into another faith. They negotiate parts of their lives, e.g. having a Christmas tree, traveling to their husband's country of origin. 
   3. Participant 1: “There was no room for negotiation in her relationship”. 
5. TBD Serpent 
   1. (Describe the concept) 
   2. Participant 2: “Shedding skin is a good analogy for puberty.” 
   3. Participant 1’s daughter stopped liking someone because they got acne; she sees a character that changes physically as a learning moment for teens not to be shallow/mean about appearance.

Twine Experience Feedback

Participant 2 & Amary on Desktop

• Uncertain not sure that her reactions were represented in the choices. They seemed harsh. She would like an option to verbally communicate in a softer way. 
• She didn’t see all the options on the screen, didn’t know to scroll for more. 

• Disconnect between her experience and behavior responses, Participant 2 didn’t feel like Amary was giving her controlling signals. 
• Felt like she was walking on eggshells with Amary, that anything she did would scare Amary away.  

Participant 1 & Jishin on mobile

• Scenario signaled that her character may have aggression issues e.g. door kicking. She decided to play against how she would react in real life. Chose to kick in the door.

• Surprised that Jishin didn’t have a stronger reaction to door kicking.

• Felt like there were too many choices
• Chuckled at the “Hey, salt is complicated” choice.

• Noted Jinshin’s insecurity Pegged him as unsure and wanted to reassure him. 

• Suggested an option to give Jinshin some space to shake it off.

Participant 1 & Participant 2 playing together with Jishin

• Kept missing options at the bottom of the page
• The character feels high maintenance 
• Speculated that girls/women would try to reassure partners, to make it work, boys/men more comfortable telling a partner how it is 
• Discussion about how people look for villains to break up with but life is more subtle than that - rarely is the breakingpoint point clear
• Both participants like Jishin’s expression of sadness, made the character feel real 

Participant 1 with Roux on mobile

• “Goes in for the kill” referencing the most assertive choice. Said she wouldn’t do it in real life. 

General Comments

• Participant 1
  • Liked the Young Adult literature feel, thought that the mystical part would appeal to her daughter, age 14, “It’s something made just for her”. 
  • Sees the game as a conversation starter with her teens. Have them play it and discuss it as a family. 
  • One of her children is discovering their pansexual attraction but doesn’t often see that reflected in the real world. See the games as an opportunity for representation and validation.
• Question: As parents of teens, what would you want them to take away from the game?
  • Participant 2
    • To trust themselves, to trust their instincts. Not just go with whatever is happening. Be themselves. 
    • Not to “put all their eggs in one basket’. Referencing a Girl Scout troop discussion where they talked about how girls will focus on the romance and lose touch with other parts of their lives and are devastated when the relationship ends. Boys don’t do it as often, they find a balance.
  • Participant 1
    • To embrace different experiences in life. Things will change and that’s okay. Suggest that we show a character at a different time, e.g. Jishi seemed insecure, later on he might be a good partner once he’s gained some self confidence
    • Child exploring pansexual feelings and they shut down if they think the other person won’t accept them, Participant 1 would like for her child to learn how to work through the avoidance issue.
• About Twine
  • Both participants missed responses that required a scroll (below the fold)

Next Steps

The testing provided an excellent foundation for continued development. Our next steps will include;

Develop visuals: Preferred imagery from testing will now be incorporated into the prototype as well as additional environments to support the stories. All characters are in sketch development and will be final for the next deliverable date. 

Story development: The team is weighing development time to either fully develop one story next in Twine while finishing the other story paths in Figjam. Story development will be informed by the research insights that were mentioned earlier. . 

Thank you!

Team Healthy Relationship