World 1 / Quest 05

Arcade Remix

Pick your favorite. Add a twist. Watch someone else play it.

Power-up: Blind-Spot FinderBadge: Watch the Player

You’ll learn

• Power-Up 5: Blind-Spot Finder
• How to run a playtest (watch, don't help, write it down)
• How to turn what you saw into one change

Briefing

Start prompt

Steps

1. 1

   Choose your game and your twist

   Tell Coach which game you're remixing and which twist (or two) from the deck. Give the full picture: what the game does now, what the twist changes, how you'll know it worked.

   Say this to Coach

   I'm remixing Catch!. The twist is: night mode. Right now the whole screen is lit up all the time. After the twist it should be dark, with only a circle of light around my basket. I'll know it worked when I can't see apples until they get close. One thing at a time — start with just the twist.

   Copy
2. 2

   Build and test the twist

   Play it. Is the twist fun, or just annoying? (Reverse controls are hilarious for 20 seconds and then people quit.) If it's annoying, that's great information. Tell Coach what you felt and ask for one idea to make the twist fun instead of mean.

   Say this to Coach

   I played the twist. It felt cool for a bit and then just unfair. Give me one idea to keep the twist but make it more fun and less annoying.

   Copy
3. 3

   Blind-Spot Finder

   Before you call it done, ask the two magic questions. Look at the difference:

   First try: ok I think it's done

   Better: Before we finish: what am I forgetting that most games like this have? And what's one thing that would make this way more fun? Short list, then I'll choose.

   Read the list. Pick ONE thing. Build it (one thing at a time).

   Say this to Coach

   Before we finish: what am I forgetting that most games like this have? And what's one thing that would make this way more fun? Give me a short list, then I'll choose one.

   Copy
4. 4

   Set up the playtest

   Find a human. Dad, Mom, a sibling, a friend. Sit them in front of your game. Say only this: "Play this. I'm not going to help." Then get a piece of paper (or ask Coach to make a playtest note file) and write down three things you see: where they got confused, when they smiled, when they stopped.

   Say this to Coach

   Make me a file called PLAYTEST.md with three empty lines: 1) Where they got confused, 2) When they smiled or laughed, 3) When they stopped playing. I'll fill it in after I watch someone play.

   Copy
5. 5

   Watch. Don't help.

   This is the hardest part of game making. They'll do it wrong. They'll miss the obvious thing. Do not say anything. Every time you want to explain, write it down instead — that's a thing your game should have explained. Two minutes. Then say thanks and take the laptop back.

6. 6

   One change from what you saw

   Tell Coach your three notes. Then pick the ONE thing that would have helped the most (usually it's the confused thing). Say what the player did, what you wanted them to do, and what to change.

   Say this to Coach

   I watched someone play. They got confused when the game started and nothing told them the arrow keys move the basket. They smiled when they caught three in a row. They stopped when they lost all their lives. Change ONE thing: show the controls on the screen before the game starts. I'll know it worked when the next player doesn't sit there pressing random keys.

   Copy

Side quests +10 XP each

Stuck?

• Twist broke the game? "That last change broke ______. Undo just that one and let's try a different way to do the twist."
• Nobody around to playtest? Play it yourself with your other hand, or record a video of yourself and watch it back. Weird, but it works.
• Coach's blind-spot list is huge? Say: "Pick the top 3 and tell me why."

More ways to get unstuck