Last week, Pi and I had made enough progress on “Operation B.U.G.” that we felt comfortable doing a test build for itch.io. We shared it with the game dev accountability group we participate in and people were kind enough to check it out. (If you are in that group and also reading this newsletter, thank you so much for your support!)
The feedback we got back was really valuable. A few unintended bugs were uncovered, people told us what they enjoyed, and we learned which parts of the experience were confusing. So far, this beats participating in a game jam by a wide margin.
Previously, I may have skipped doing an early test all together because I wasn’t thinking past the first milestone. I would consider the showcase to friends and family the finished product and move on. This time around, it feels nice to know that there is another milestone with higher stakes still ahead. I am more willing to take steps that will give the game its best chance of success in the market.
By far, the biggest issue we need to address is the onboarding experience. Even though we had made a lot of progress and had a start and end state, the goal of the game and how players reached that goal wasn’t clearly presented. Then when that uncertainty mixes with bugs that actually prevent the game from being played, it can lead to a very poor experience.
Even though there are some areas of game dev where I feel comfortable, I don’t think I have nearly enough reps designing games to be learned. As I sat down to think about how our game reached this point, it occurred to me that our current state of the game is a clear reflection of the order in which we built it. Let me explain.
We first started with the basic mechanic of spawning and swatting bugs. Then we added a wide variety of bugs. Finally we came up with a scoring system and rewarded the player for their actions. Within this build process, we never once considered in total what skills we want the player to learn and what experience we want the player to feel. Our game technically works and does what it needs to do, but it doesn’t connect and flow together from start to end.
It got me thinking that games really boil down to something more like a hero’s journey. As a game designer, it’s my job to present the player with a final quest with some kind of payoff and stakes, and then deliver upon that promise. Much like Simon Sinek says, starting with Why and working backward leads to something much more compelling. All decisions can orient themselves toward that single purpose and the player will feel that cohesion as the game systems magnetize them toward the right direction.
All of this said, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel proud over what we’ve made in such a short amount of time. These last few weeks have been the most fun I’ve had participating in the larger game dev community. It feels like things are starting to pick up and I feel motivated to continue learning and growing. I’m confident that Pi and I will be able to take the feedback we received and iterate our way toward really great onboarding experience. We were lucky enough that the solution to our problem was simply changing the order in which we present enemies to the player. However, next time I really want to spend more time designing that payoff, or the “Why”, to the point where I feel compelled to bring the idea to reality. There’s so much that I still have to learn about game dev and I can’t wait to continue sharing it with you.
Talk Soon,
Connor