Playtesting
Within the first week of working on this idea, I was tasked with creating a paper prototype of my game idea to present to my class. I was able to chart out a rough idea of the demo I wanted to complete during the short time I have to work on Ruined. I creating some rough dialogue and a drawing three areas in which I want the player to encounter.
I set up on a small table with figures that were intended for use in dungeons and dragons that I had access to. I used these figures to represent a small number of villagers within the city and would allow the player to experience the variety of personalities in this city. The player would encounter the head monk of the monastery, two other monks that have completed their training, a mother and son, a young girl, a drunken man, a woman fixing a gate, and a man hard at work in the fields.
The player was represented by a d20 die and could explore the city, ask questions, and I would try and answer them as to represent the game system. I was able to get a good deal of feedback that I will be able to put towards my creation of the digital version of the game.
In between me running my game I was able to play a few games of my own that my classmates where playtesting. One I was unable to test that I was excited to play was one by Sean. It is a nutrition game that would require the player to try and complete their nutritional needs in a college cafeteria setting. I thought it was an incredible idea, unfortunately, I got into another game.
Though I didn’t remember the name of the game it was meant to mimic the political system, though it definitely had its faults, it was an incredibly fun game to play. You were a big company (I was the wheat industry, and the others I played with were gold and corn industry) and had to buy Senators to pass policy. It was a very tongue-in-cheek look at the political system of the United States which was very funny. I didn’t know a lot (pretty much nothing) about our political system but still had a blast!