Gameflow and Playability as Models for Organizing Feedback from Remote Playtest

ISBN: 978-981-08-8644-8

Authors: Saranpat Thanadsornsarn and Vishnu Kotrajaras

Abstract:

Automatic acquisition of interaction data from games is proven very useful as global network infrastructure develops. Conducting remote playtest sessions over the Internet has become a more popular practice for game designers. The analysis of collected feedback log is now a common mean of understanding interactive experiences. As methods of obtaining data are getting developed, means of evaluating such data are rarely introduced. Designers often get overwhelmed by large amount of data. They are forced to rely on case-by-case hypothesis testing. In this paper, we propose general model for organizing collected data that helps designers to systematically locate gameplay design flaws from multiple level of details. By applying Gameflow and Playability models to the method of understanding interactive experiences. As methods of obtaining data are getting developed, means of evaluating such data are rarely introduced. The method was applied to remote playtest sessions of two game prototypes. By calculating correlation between multiple elements within compositions and design objectives, we were able to locate design flaws within both game prototypes and develop design solutions that improved
their performances. The results suggested that our approach could be used for identifying design flaws in games playable over the Internet.

Keywords: design component; playtest; game design; testing tool