These are the four magic words when play testing. I heard them twice this week. I’m testing two new games with the children and young adults that show up at Autumn leave activities at Folk Lab Hallunda. When someone unprompted asks to play the game again, you know that the game has potential. Not only that happened, but they also taught their friends how to play. It’s really great as a game designer to hear how someone else teaches your game to new players.
Why do we play the same game again? What makes players want to play a game again? I think this is a better question to understand than whether people like your game or not.
People pick up a new game because it’s shiny, new, something to bring home and share with friends and family. An interesting hook, theme, cover. Or because someone they trust recommend the game. But for a game to be truly great, it needs to be more than a one time gimmick. Something that will make their owner pick it from their shelf again and again. There are so many other things out there that compete for our attention so people to want to play your game again is necessary for the game to have staying power.
Both the games I’m play testing are spin offs from Petroglyph. The constrained format of 16 cards out of 17 in a four by four tableau is really great. Four colours, each with their distinct flavour connected to the theme. I came up with some new twists and new themes and so far they both look promising.
Easy to learn, hard to master
Great games have a great learning curve. Easy to learn, hard to master. You need to be able to engage with the game quickly. Touching colourful components and putting the game together is great for this as a shared social activity. One player reading a long manual and explaining the rules for the other players is not.
Petroglyph is quick to set up and I usually explain the rules as we play. There is enough luck that you can win first time you play. There is enough skill that experienced players have an advantage. Even if you lose you get a sense of achievement. You will have collected some sets. It is extremely rare that a player does not get at least one point. It is also extremely rare that one player collects all sets. Hence, there is always a reason to play again. Can you get a better score next time? How will the cards play next time? Did you get lucky or did you win because you were smart? Play again and find out.
A friend of mine says he always plays to not lose. He knows that winning can be hard. Playing to not lose is a good way to have more fun playing games. Playing to learn and playing to improve your skill are other great objectives.
I hope to share more about both of these games soon. Until then let me share some other great news.
Play Petroglyph online
A friend of mine has implemented a digital version of Petroglyph that you can play online (another friend than the one mentioned above. I’m blessed with knowing many smart and fun people). It’s amazing how fast you can get to great software using LLMs with the right idea and the right people.
The digital version is great to play to learn the game or to fill out a boring commute. Try it out and let us know what you think. Can you beat the Master Carver?
Right now we are sharing it for free. Maybe one way it will appear in the App Store but I find it much more fun to create new games and my friend wants to use the project to showcase his skills. If you are looking to hire a smart developer / machine learning specialist, I can highly recommend my friend.