Devlog #5 Production 4

Our group is continuing to work and between the last devlog and this one, we got a lot more useful data to help advance our game. The first devlog of production I shared information on how we playtested our first prototype and how we got our game prepared. Up to that point we made all of the cards and had the base mechanics made, put it into our prototype and then started creating surveys. We wanted information on the core features so we based our survey around that, afterwards we got playtesters and received a lot of good feedback. The second devlog of production I talked about how we moved our game from prototype into Roll 20 to create the actual game. All card descriptions and layout was set out and the rulebook was completed, the only thing not in the game was the final art. We did more playtests and found great data, with a common complaint being about the length of our game. The third devlog of production highlighted the rule changes we decided to make as well as the progress on the art. The rule change was to only have the SIN count as the players life and increase the amount from 4-5. There were also other rule changes but they are smaller ones that I wont go in detail about. 

This week we conducted our third and final round of playtests. Before that we made sure we made the necessary rule changes and added all of the art into the game. It was a long experience adding the cards into the game because we had to upload each card individually, and if we had 6 of the same card, we had to upload it into the game 6 times. We also set our goals for the last round of playtests to test if the game was too long, do the new cards make the game clearer, and can players understand the game without us intervening. The first playtest I did was with a group of three, and right off the bat the game felt better and shorter. For the first time you could actually see the end of the game, with it nearing completion within an hour of play. I decided to make a change just for my playtests where I shortened the SIN from 5, back to four. The next playtest with a group of three went on for about an hour and a half and that game was fully completed. While it did go on longer, it felt more natural. The final playtest reinforced feedback from the second playtest, with that being the clarity of the cards and rules. We found that the game did end up being shorter, and that the end goal should change based on how many people are  playing. The cards were easier to read and understand the specific meaning, however, there was confusion on how and when certain cards could be played. We also learned players relied on the moderators for help. We can take away from this is that our rulebook is too long and tedious to look back upon. 

With all that learned we need to make some new changes to our game. We will first meet and discuss the basic rules and mechanics about the game and whether to add more or less lives for the player and whether the player loses more money when their full credit card is revealed. We also need to add the rest of the art into the game, we just need to add pictures onto the cards, which will take some time because of the amount of cards, but it was a stretch goal that is good we are able to work towards. We also need to edit some of the cards and their descriptions and balance the cost. Some cards were a bit over or under powered and this can be fixed by increasing the cost of them or making them less powerful. Finally we plan on updating the rulebook to make it more digestible as well as creating a video so players can easily understand how to work Roll20 and the rules. Below is an image showing our updated card art and the different types of cards.