Week 10 – Major Playtest Day and Valuable Insights
This week, our team focused entirely on preparing for our official Saturday playtest day. We dedicated the week to polishing content, resolving bugs, and getting everything ready for live testing. On the day of the event, we successfully ran playtests for both the Garden Level (Level 1) and the Upper Tree Level (Level 3).
We were thrilled to welcome a large number of playtesters from our target audience, which gave us incredibly useful insights into how younger players experience the game.
Overall Feedback Summary
🧸 General Impressions
- Most players described the game as cute, peaceful, and enjoyable.
- The nature-based themes and “healing” quality were praised.
- The game’s message about decomposition and environmental awareness came through clearly for most.
👀 Size & Perspective
- Most players felt small—around the same size as the squirrel—but a few mentioned feeling human-sized at times.
- Some noted inconsistencies in scale, especially at the beginning and end of levels.
🎮 Gameplay & Mechanics
- Instructions were generally clear, but there were a few points of confusion:
- Players weren’t always sure where to place items (e.g., maple leaf, sunny spot).
- Many didn’t realize both hands were needed for certain actions.
- Leaves fell too easily from players’ hands.
- Some found object placement boundaries frustrating.
📚 Narrative & Educational Takeaways
- Players grasped the concept of decomposition, though younger children needed more guidance.
- Some players found the game too educational, while others appreciated the learning aspect.
- The cigarette-related content caused some confusion and may need clarification or context.
🎨 Visuals & Audio
- The art style and environment were well received—many liked the calming natural setting.
- The squirrel NPC was liked overall, but some felt it became repetitive or slightly annoying.
- Suggestions included making the squirrel more expressive with mouth movement and interactive animations.
- Some scene transitions, such as time skips, were felt to be abrupt or unclear.
This playtest was one of our most valuable yet, and we’re incredibly thankful to everyone who participated. We look forward to making key improvements in the coming weeks based on this rich feedback.