External Playtest 1

Helsing's friends from Ireland enjoying the game on Tabletop Simulator

External Playtest #1 was held on November 22, 2023 on Tabletop Simulator with Helsing's online friends and features Iteration 1.5 of the game.

Within the same playtest, each research pair within our development team has different preferences for recording their study and observations. The section in this page are divided by how each pair records their study.

Previous Playtest: In-Class Playtest #4

Next Playtest: External Playtest #2

## Franciszek Ryt & Rajat Upadhayaya

### Objective

The objective of this playtest was to see how the game plays out with people outside of the Game Design and with people who are not game designers. Our aim was to see if the rulebook is understood by the non game designers and to see if they resolve the interactions in the game correctly via the rulebook and almanac.

We allowed players to place terrain in the inner ring once again, except covering the ultimate flag. We also changed the rulebook a bit to make it more consistent and easy to understand for this playtest with a few other minor changes to the game.

* Rulebook V.5
* Almanac V.5

* Player 1 (Punk) chose: Fox, Dog, Luces - INI - 20, 15pts
* Player 2 (Kotten) chose:  Dog, Fox, Bunny - INI - 19, 12pts
* Player 3 (Andrew) chose: Bunny, Panda, Monkey - INI - 19, 31pts
* Player 4 (Lemshimmer) chose: Crane, Panda, Monkey - INI - 23, 6pts
* Player 5 (Solarxzy) chose: Bunny, Fox, Crane - INI - 21, 17 pts

### Process

Notes from the playtest (Franciszek):

* blue: crane, panda, monkey player4
* ice: bunny, fox, crane player5
* red: fox, dog, squirrel player1
* yellow: dog, fox, bunny player2
* violet: panda, monkey, bunny player3

I have recorded the sequence of events of the playtest so we can anylyse it in more detail

* jump over - fia, it fits with the hero
* tactic is often dumped when somebody attacks you, then it is a revenge game
* why bird not fly high
* panda + fox duo mentioned
* diplomacy and revange is very visible in how the player plan the game
* they have spawned the other flags (not clear - but reversed it
* dog picture is misleading xd
* fightng for other ppl not to get the point rather than for themselves
* fun fun, at the end there was a petty war, start of one anyway, everyone just wanted someone elese win then the player who was first

Notes from the playtest (Rajat):

* During the setup and reading of rules they are able to identify different components. They are also able to discuss among each other and are coming to the correct conclusion. This is a good sign since these are not Game Design students.
* Some confusion regarding the colour of heavens vs characters but via some discussion they figure out the correct spawn and bases.
* Players were wondering about the range of abilities and how they work with the inaccessible tiles. They do not realise that the dark grey tiles are inaccessible at this moment.
* They picked their teams in secret and revealed it after.
* Two players had the same initiative and they were discussing if they need to roll the die each round to decide the turn order or once at start.
* Game starts. Setup done:
* They placed the flags in the correct positions.
* “Going last is the best” - Player feedback
* They understand correctly that you move all 3 of your heroes in a turn.
* Right off the bat the Player 4 uses their panda to pull their other Hero to an adjacent tile which is a minor flag tile. Also they placed a wall on the 5 point tile.
* Player 5 then uses movement only to move central on the board since the flag spawned away from them.
* They understand correctly that they can only use ability or movement.
* They understand the movement is up to the movement number and you do not have to move the max amount each time you move.
* Player 3 moved and placed the wall down on Player 5, moving the player off the flag and also dealing damage.
* Round is over and they resolve the points correctly.
* Player 4 once again uses the Panda and Monkey in combination to deal damage and make it tougher for the enemy player to move towards the flag.
* Player 4 kills an enemy Hero and gains a kill point.
* Player 5 places a snowstorm on Player 2’s two heroes dealing damage and slowing them.
* They understand correctly that moving out of the snowstorm still reduces movement.
* So far this group of players have understood the rules and the intent we had very well.
* There is no clear misunderstanding beside the dark grey tile at the start.
* Player 5 also realises the bunny can jump over terrain. They are also keeping their heroes all together.
* One of the players moved through their own players, but immediately the other players caught this and double checked the rules and got it resolved correctly.
* The friendly fire rules still need some work like a fox hitting your other hero.
* Player 2 questions how using ability in the snowstorm works with the movement component, there is some confusion about it. They refer to the almanc to try and resolve it, they figure it out correctly.
* They mention again that going last is both good and bad.
* They discuss turn order and the team they picked and how a player mentions with their team composition going later is beneficial.
* Round 2 ends, they resolve the points. They are excited about getting new flags.
* They now realise they understand they should know where the new flag spawns.
* They perform the flag spawns correctly.
* They discuss completion of abilities before moving onto their next Hero.
* They realise the soul squirrel and its ability to gain points with kills on soulbound characters.
* They mention an AOE attack on both soulbound heroes would do double damage to both of them.
* I had to leave early during this playtest - so my notes end here.

### Research notes:

round 1

* blue player making their team stick together, gaining some flags and blocking the major
* ice player going the full speed
* red is concise
* yellow is fully spread
* violet displaced people from the flags (concise) (only points for them)

round 2

* blue displaces the whole team of red, 2and1 (1 point)
* ice makes the storm, concise
* red, attacking your players to make others lose health by squirrel, disparse
* yellow, disparse (snowstorm)
* violet, slow but steady, panda pulling, displacing your heroes to go to flag (most points)

round 3

* blue -> disperse (at first), movement, taking positions at various flags
* ice, kill with violea and fia), obscuring the center
* red consice, taking flags
* yellow, snowstorm disparse, fox attacking sth different than bunny
* violet

round 4

* concise blue, one flag, secure the linked hero
* ice, flag by crane ability, spread by death (respawn)
* red taking flags and keeping together (respawn)
* yellow, going into the storm to retake the flag, dog and fox combo
* violet, escape from the storm, hindered, nothing gained

round 5

* blue monkey panda, -> crane (2 plus 1), blocking big flag, taking the lower one
* ice disperse, flag, kill, respawn
* red kills monkey from blue, takes their flag
* yellow, disperse, taking flags around the map
* violet, big snowstorm on red and blue, disperse, monkey is solo, buny is solo, panda is solo

round 6

* blue has been decimated, respawn, respawns close to the flags in the respawn tiles (the dangerous places, right in the middle of the action
* ice disparse
* red escape from the snowstorm, dog plus fox, kill, kill
* yellow, disperse, flag taking
* violet, snowstorm in the thickest, disperse, circling the centre (preparig)

round 7

* blue two respawns, crane very close to the centre
* ice - pass
* red, bind enemies,
* yellow, kill, everyone is anxiously approaching the ultimate flag, fox takes the flag
* violet, bunny hop, plus panda, plus snowstorm kill, monkey takes centre

round 8

* blue, panda plus monkey plus crane attempt to kill (fail)
* ice, crane takes centre, everyone else respawns
* red, dog swap, panda kill with dog
* yellow, snowstorm on top of the middle
* violet, finishing off some heroes

Player 5: all about high adamge and killing other heroes, the team was supposed to work together, slow down the opponents and kill the quickly. Next time they would go with monkey and low initiative.

Player 4: important elements were the area control and the ability to move others, they wanted to make sure they gather at least one flag, focused around getting the wall and protecting them from attacks on the flag, they failed in their task bacuse they indulged in spite fights. They would try to have lower initatve next time but not by discarding the crane - the best hero in their eye.

Player 3 focused on the crowd control, they understood the need for having a low initiative and a skill that allows moving other players, they have used the Panda moving skill on theri heroes to boost their movement capabilities, blocked off players and flags with wall and slowed them donw with the bunny hero, once they were rich in points their tactic changed into fully disruption and denying other players flag points with wall. They did not deal much damage but they were okey with that.

Player 2: they started of with jakc of all trades approach but quickly regretted the choice, theyw ould like to go with low initiative as it seemed to be the favourable tactic

Player 1: they have mobilised around the health of the heroes and abilities to manipulate the health, their's strategy was to kill of heroes that were close or on flags and then take them themselves, by manipulating health with the dog and squirrel. They liked their strategy but would like to replay the game to understand the possibilities.

## Igor Sogorovecs & Stan Nguyen

### Previously, on Iteration 1.5...

Iteration 1.5 serves to address frustrating game systems identified from the previous In-Class playtest in the following manners:

* The Ultimate Zone feature is scrapped since it was gamebreaking in addition to being frustrating. Players can now put AoE anywhere around the flag, as long as it still not on the flag itself.
* Regu now has a movement component in his ability. Silac deals more damage to his enemies, and Haru has increased survivability. We believe that changing how the turn order works in our game would entail a close-to overhaul of the existing game, and so we try to buff all systems around it to better support players with First-turn. By giving buff to HP, damage, and range we hope to have First-turn players capitalize on their initiative better.

### Aim

We wish to continue having the players pinpoint game systems, or lack thereof, which are inducive toward frustrations. The resulting game system can be completely new or a repeat of previously identified ones. We will also continue to monitor their behaviors, whether conscious or subconscious, as these behaviors carry psychological implications that survey response could not properly convey.

Another important aim for this specific playtest is to test for the game's playability with 5 people, as well as using Tabletop Simulator as a medium.

### Methodologies

The methodologies employed is a replication from previous playtest with no changes.

### "Negative Remarks" Results

#### Player 1

A total of 6 negative remarks were recorded. Some of which being:

* "I am gonna stop everything else and put my bunny storm at you, because I am upset."
* "Yes, I killed you, fuck you!"
* "Suck me out, bitch!"

#### Player 2

A total of 6 negative remarks were recorded. Some of which being:

* "I feel so good, that he didn't do what he wanted to do."
* "Fuck you!...I didn't laugh, I said 'fuck you'."
* "You have to move before the wall, fuck you!"

#### Player 3

A total of 10 negative remarks were recorded. Some of which being:

* "Ah, fuck you [,,,]"
* "Fuck you and your fox token."
* "Shut up, bitch! You are such a bitch!"

#### Player 4

A total of 5 negative remarks were recorded. Some of which being:

* "Yo, you are not gonna like my turn either."
* "I'm just gonna do it on [...], because I hate him."
* "As long as my panda lives, nobody gets 10 points!"

### Playtest Notes

#### Set-Ups

* Did anybody catch what the lottery means? >> I think it's just the deck to draw flag tile.
* I dont understand what the flag system at all. >> At the start of every even turn, you replace new flags... One person understand the rule very well and explain it to other people.
* They help each other understand the rules by all reading it.
* One person already knows they are gonna pick Regu.
* Same person does take a while to pick heroes.
* It's a bit crowded on the board.
* Questions about initiative breaking even throughout the duration of the game and rolling D6 every round to check for round order.

#### Playtime

* First turn use Silac to pull and combo Regu wall to block points. VIolea is fast.4
* One person beat the shit out their own Haru using Howie.
* Last turn monkey displacing heroes out of flag position.
* Does stepping out of the Snowstorm counts for movement penalty?
* Can you move through teammate heroes?
* It would be sick if you can beat your own team to deal damage to enemy heroes?
* They realize that certain team comps favor certain turn order.
* They realize that going first or last can be good or bad depending on how you play around it.
* Last turn player gets all the points secured.
* They want to be able to damage their own teammates.

### Interview Q&A

*What did you enjoy the most in the game?*

* Player 1: "Killing others when they can't stop me."
* Player 2: "I liked the strategy aspect a lot, having to think about what you are doing and what the others are gonna do."
* Player 3: "I enjoyed the strategic thinking needed to play."
* Player 4: "Focusing on screwing the game up for another player rather than winning myself."
* Player 5: "The artstyle and combination of characters."

*One word feeling?*

* Player 1: N/A
* Player 2: "Replayable."
* Player 3: "Enjoyable."
* Player 4: "Spiteful."
* Player 5: "Curious."

*What did you feel most frustrating in the game? If no then what do you think would give other players frustration?*

* Player 1: "A lot of moving abilities near the end of the round."
* Player 2: "Having someone go after you in initiative and removing your progress."
* Player 3: "I believe the other players found the fact i had a low initiave order with the panda in my team being able to move them off of flag posts at the end of a round frustrated them."
* Player 4: "How going first in a five-player game meant that I'd always be targeted when going for the flags."
* Player 5: "The bunny slow and the monkey wall."

*If you can design this game, how would you make it fairer?*

* Player 1: "Maybe change turn order / initiative to be fairer."
* Player 2: "The only thing I can think of is that if the flags only spawn on one side but I get that thats hard to do."
* Player 3: "Maybe tweaking initiative order on the CC based skill heroes."
* Player 4: "Perhaps having different map sizes depending on the amount of players."
* Player 5: "More points for kills."

*How much time did you feel like you were playing?*

* Player 1: "Like an hour and a half."
* Player 2: "30-40 min."
* Player 3: "45 minutes."
* Player 4: "Around 3 hours."
* Player 5: "An hour?"

*Did you feel like you really hate what your opponent was doing?*

* Player 1: "No they often played cool turns."
* Player 2: "Not in a bad way no."
* Player 3: "No."
* Player 4: "Occasionally, yes."
* Player 5: "One of my opponents frustrated me but mainly because they were trying a lot harder than me."

*What was your strategy?*

* Player 1: "Swap my hp around and kill two people at once, including my own dudes."
* Player 2: "I picked card that felt individually strong and tried going for an allrounder game."
* Player 3: "Denying other players flags."
* Player 4: "At the start, to control the area around the flags. In the end of the game, to screw over player 1 to help player 3 win."
* Player 5: "Slow and kill."

*Did you feel like giving up at any point?*

* Player 1: "At the start, the flags were far away and 1 of my dudes were dead"
* Player 2: "Well last round but only because we could not win at that point. Player 3 played well and had an insurmountable lead."
* Player 3: "No."
* Player 4: "Yes."
* Player 5: "Not really."

### Discussion

Based on the results of the "Negative Remarks" and our Interviews, we discovered that:

* First-turn order continued to be a point of frustration for the player, while last-turn order is highly sought after. One key reason pointed out this time in addition to the usual, was that this problem is even more significant with increasing number of players.
* Movement restricting abilities continued to be a point of frustration for the players.
* Killing is not a good alternative tactic, and some players find that lacking.

Iteration 1.6 will serve to address these design issues informed by our playtest - to alleviate frustrations in players.

## Emma Andersson & Sanna Helsing

*In this iteration, rules and character balancing has changed. The players are playing with human designs on the character cards. The players are playing online via Tabletop Simulator and conversing using Discord voice call. Some members however has seen the animal designs of the character cards before the playtest.*

### Notes

Players take their time reading rulebook and almanac.
They consider some interesting combos when picking characters.

When a question about rules come up, they help eachother look for it in the rules and come to the right conclusions.

After playtest they are discussing other combos they want to try if they play again.

### Survey answers

#### What made you choose your heroes?

* Their Skills
* movement and damage
* The skill and stats.
* They had fun sounding abilities and looked cute
* I chose the fox because it was simple, i chose the panda because it seemed like i could be annoying and pull players away and i very much did not understand what the squirrel did but it sounded very cool and like it had a lot of strategic possibilities

#### What do you think about the character visual? (Character visuals only, not the card background)

* the art style is really cool but i prefer the animal versions a lot
* Im so sorry but I feel like it lacked a bit. It didnt feel like the art matched the animal it was supposed to represent and I was mostly looking at the little icon to see what hero card I was looking at. Personally I think that the shape-language could have been stronger, for example the panda I usually connote to rounder, bigger and so on and I think that would help a lot with telling them apart.
* Very very very good
* Very cool and gave a good impression of what type of character it was
* Very good.

#### What was more interesting about the heroes, the mechanics or the visuals?

Mechanics: 1

Visuals: 1

Both: 3

#### What about the heroes you chose is most appealing to you visually?

* I believe all the art is nice
* the flow of the bunny character
* The color I think
* They just all had a very cool presence
* Regu

#### Did you relate to any of the heroes? If so, what made them relatable?

* Luces, they run away alot
* No
* No I wouldnt say.
* Yeah I feel like everyone could relate a little bit to atleast one hero, I think the art was done really well in such a way that it emphizised the temperament of the characters
* Not really. I'm not an animal nor a weeb. That the monkey makes stuff erect in the almanac is pretty interesting though.

#### Did you feel like the heroes had a personality? If so, do you think the personality comes from the visuals, the mechanics, both or something else?

* i think it mainly comes from the visuals and the animal itself, like the monkey is playful, the bunny is skittish, the fox is sly etc etc
* I would say that the mechanics and stats impacted the characteristics and personality more than the visuals.
* It kinda fit what the characters could do with what they were but not necessarily personality, the quotes were fun tho
* Yes definately, very much what i said in the question above. I think it was definitely both the visuals and mechanics and the fact that they lined up really well in my opinion
* Yes mexhanics

#### Do you feel like the visual design of each hero represents the mechanics?

* Yes!
* yes
* i think so!
* A little bit yes but I would like for there to be more, I think the rabbit was very good tho.
* I don't remember that much, I don't think that that was the case for all but definitely for some it was the case

#### Would you choose to play this game solely based on the visual design of the heroes?

* probably not
* yeah!!
* No, Im so sorry.
* Yes!
* That would definitely be a selling point