Game Playtesting: the Heart of Game Design
Playtesting: when, how, why, what to do (and not do)
Description
This is an in-depth treatment of what's important, and how to effectively conduct and benefit from, game playtesting. Translating the 6.5 hours of videos to words, it's the size of a small novel (more than 50,000 words). To my knowledge, there is nothing approaching this size on this subject in existence.
Playtesting is the heart (though not the brains) of game design. If you want to be a good game designer, not just a hack, you have to understand that heart just as you have to understand the brains, as covered in my other courses.
The major sections cover:
What is Playtesting?
Arranging the Playtesting
How to Conduct Playtesting
How to use the results of Playtesting
Other Considerations when Playtesting
There is nothing here about game programming, art, sound, etc. It is all about game design.
What You Will Learn!
- Understand that there's a lot more to playtesting than just playing the prototype
- Recognize that playtesting is not only about fixing problems, it's about ensuring your target market enjoys the game
- Know what you can do to more efficiently arrange playtesting
- Understand what you can do to conduct playtesting more effectively
- Understand what you can do when using the results of playtesting
- And many other considerations that come into playtesting
Who Should Attend!
- Game designers, especially those who are inexperienced or just starting out