No Time to Simmer

With the exceptionally short timetable of a Game Jam, a dedicated research phase was out of the question. So, I decided to send out builds of the game at several stages, as well as UI samples, to friends and collegues to interview for readablility. Findings were pretty consistent across development:

The Challenge

The game mechanics of Clara’s Cauldron Conundrum can be a bit involved, even before the more difficult puzzles. In order to be able to engage with the more advanced mechanics, players would need to quickly understand the base mechanics. Mechanics would need to be as simple as possible and easily explained.

Key Insights

Players completed the tutorial much more quickly when they had immediate feedback. A large green UI checkmark appears as soon as the player has completed a step in the tutorial.

Lower experience groups found they weren’t sure what to do next. The Traits mechanic, a series of conditionals that spell out your characters next moves in a given situation, often made these players more comfortable.

Less experienced players greatly benefitted from graphics that showed the exact keys they needed to press. The added contrast of the black keys on a parchment background margianally increased the speed that experienced players completed the tutorial, as well.

Thank you for reading!