During class we were able play test each others games and offer feedback to our colleagues on their games. As well as getting hands on time with some of their incredible work, I was able to get some great feedback on the current build of my game. I had 3 play testers during this session (M, D and S), and found some common complaints, as well as some differing opinions.

M was already familiar with the project from earlier play testing sessions, but it was very interesting to hear their feedback on the progress made. Some of the feedback included:

- The player has too many HP to start with. There should be very real consequences to being attacked by the bear (Note: I had intentionally upped the player HP for the play testing process since the game was very punishing).

- The lights not coming back on after the player dies is strange. It creates a sort of consequence for the players action but was this intentional or not? (Note: It was not. Please see Blog 07 - Sean Harkin: Code Breaker for further details). 

- There should be something to make it clear to the player they are in range to take damage, possibly an animation or audio cue.

D was very excited by the aesthetic of the game, and gave compliments on the environment models I had created. They also make some incredibly loud and shrieking noises when they are excited playing games. Some of the feedback included:

- They were put off by the lack of HUD. There are very little UI elements intended for the final build, however this player may have been used to more traditional game interfaces.

- When D died, they thought it was a great effect that the lights didn’t come back on. When told this was unintentional, they suggested that it might be some sort of mechanic tied to a perfect play-through. 

- D died very quickly - they suggested a higher starting HP. 

- Due to the camera position and player controller, they found it slightly confusing to control the character. (Note. This was very important feedback as the games mechanic is all about approaching the Bear in the correct way, the player should feel they have good control over the avatar)

S is very avid game enthusiast so I was very interested in what they thought of my game. Some of the feedback included:

- Again, S thought the player died too quickly and there was no clear indication of the player taking damage.

- They also had some critique of the player camera and controller mechanisms. They suggested a more top down approach, which would keep the 3D aesthetic but require less work to change. (Note. The top down suggestion was tried, but ultimately reverted to changing the camera and controls entirely)

The play testing session was incredibly helpful, as though I had conducted a few before hand, these players were familiar with the game and the mechanics (such as M) and therefore were less critical of some of the controls which were clearly an issue for new players. This told me I would either have to create an explicit control mechanic, or change my controls to be more ‘user-friendly’.  Also, the lack of animation (which was not intentional, just not yet implemented in that build) was clearly an issue - but there was a very clear need for some sort of indication of the player taking damage; be that audio, animation or a UI element. Overall, this session highlighted the areas which I should concentrate on in my development.