Delivered at Casual Connect Tel Aviv 2016. For many developers game creation is a process initiated and implemented based on feelings and instincts. Jelly Button games believes there is a way to validate your instincts by playtesting your game at early stages. We will discuss the reasons for game prototyping, how prototyping is executed, and best practices for effective prototyping.

1. By Ron Rejwan

2. JELLIES BASED IN FOUNDED
HALF OF MY FACE
WE ARE JELLY BUTTON

3. Here are a few examples…

4. Reasons
Define
Best
Practices
Playtest
Game
Prototyping

6. Test your core gameplay ASAP
Will people enjoy this new idea? Is it fun?
Does my target audience want to play this game?
Remember: Innovative != Good
Innovation is great, but new mechanics don’t guarantee
a good game!

7. Your initial time estimate will (usually) be way off
A prototype may give you a better idea of the time & resources it will
take to make a full blown game
Lots of work required
Programmers, artists, modellers, game designers, QA, etc..

8. Find technological problems and blockers from the get-go
Is it technically possible to do what you’re trying to achieve?
Predict possible additional costs from the start
Server costs, data transfer, development time, etc..

10. A game prototype is a physical or digital product
with the bare minimum features you must have,
in order to test that your core game idea is fun and feasible,
in as little time & expenses as possible.

11. Test your core gameplay for fun
Is an endless frogger for mobile a fun idea?
Technological proof of concept
Can mobile devices run my universe simulation game?
Find design issues early on
Will people enjoy playing a voice controlled Candy Crush clone?

12. Abstract game idea
A survival game where you play as the zombie
Unrealistic scope for your available resources
An MMORPG developed by a 1 man team
Off topic
Daily bonus, settings menu, character customization, etc

14. Write a very short game design document (GDD)
With the exact scope that you want to implement
Assign a set time and prioritize your tasks
Must have, should have, could have
Set a playtest date
This will make you much more committed to finishing it on time

15. Is this feature really necessary?
Does it feedback directly to my core game idea?
Do focus on what you want to find out
Mechanics, controls, gameplay, etc..
Don’t focus on sound, UI, content or graphics
Unless it relates directly to your core idea
Avoid premature optimization
Keep it simple, stupid!

16. Resist the temptation to write stuff just because it’s fun
Google for existing solutions (code, sounds, graphics, etc)
Buy ready placeholder assets
Unity asset store, Mixamo, etc..

17. It doesn’t have to be pretty
You are testing how fun your core idea is
Clash Royale’s early playable prototype from 2013
A lot of failure is to be expected (and it’s OK)
It should be disposable, don’t waste your time
Maintain a prototyping utility bag
Reuse generic components throughout your prototypes

19. Your prototype is going to be very rough
Explain this to your play testers, there is no tutorial
There are temporary graphics
Circles = aliens, squares = pirates
You are not testing for technical bugs!
Remind this to your playtesters
They need to understand that they are testing the game idea

20. You get to see a play tester’s first impression only once
Be quiet, observe them play and write everything down
Don’t defend your game
Listen to what they may or may not like, you want to gain
information from it; not an ego boost
Giving to play your prototype can be nerve wrecking
It’s unfinished, you wanted to add a lot more features, it’s not too
pretty; and worst of all, people just don’t get it… prepare yourself

21. Most people don’t know how to describe their feelings
It’s your job to dig and try to understand what they are actually
saying
Try to break down questions to each atomic mechanic
Did you like the controls? How easy was playing the warrior? Did
you enjoy playing with your friend online?

22. If the idea isn’t good
Learn from it and move on to the next idea
If the idea is good
Take the feedback you received and quickly iterate on your to get
feedback again - do this until you decide to either drop or go with
the idea
You have to love the idea
If you don’t believe in the idea; don’t do it.

23. Postmortems - Reflect on what went well and what went wrong
Go back to it before you start the next prototype, learn from the process
Extract any reusable code for your “prototype utility
library”
Take some time for this, it will pay back in the future
Creativity can be very hard!
It can take you a day, a month, a year; or even an entire lifetime
to come up with a great game idea that you, and your players will
love

24. Ron Rejwan, CTO & Co-Founder
Jelly Button
ronr@jellybtn.com