Summary:
This week (Mar.28-Apr.3), we conducted 3 playtest sessions which exposed a series of design and tech issues in our product. Alpha phase was extended another time to Apr.11 to allow for a feature-complete product.
What we have done:
Client Meeting (03.28)
After reviewing the wrap-up report draft, similar feedback was brought up about removing competitive finishing times during gameplay (image attached). In addition, a small playtest was scheduled on Mar.29 for about 7 guests from Dietrich College (pictures attached). However, due to lack of preparation beforehand, the results from this playtest were concerning, which we managed to fix later in the week.
Wrap-up Report by Mar.25 
Playtest on Mar.29
Playtest with Simcoach Games (04.01)
This Friday morning, we welcomed three developers from Simcoach Games in our project room and ran a playtest (pictures attached). The overall feedback was positive, with bits and pieces from UI to be made more intuitive. For example, remove buttons from the spinner and let players drag to spin (implemented later). The questions used to build the player’s cultural wheel were recognized as helpful to reflect on one’s identity and trigger conversations.
Instructor Meeting (04.01)
To prepare for the big Playtest Day this Saturday, the gameplay was reviewed again during the instructor meeting and suggestions were brought up to limit the content of playtest to maximize the efficiency. For example, although we planned to playtest for 4 levels of puzzles, it would be time-efficient to only do 3.
ETC Playtest Day (04.02)
The big playtest day of the semester was finally here. We were scheduled to run two 20-min sessions (one in the morning and the other in the afternoon), each with around 20-25 guests (pictures attached). The parts to playtest involved only login, building culture wheels, and team puzzle solving, without the wrap-up report in the end for time’s sake. Due to an unforeseen server capacity problem discovered 30 minutes before the session, we quickly made the decision to divide each group into 3 sections and playtest with around 8 guests each time. Although we let go of the opportunity to test with a larger number of audience this time, we managed to run the sessions from start to finish without major technical issues. At the end of the playtest, guests were encouraged to scan the QR code for a post-playtest survey. With their feedback and what we observed during the sessions, we found out many design and tech issues and summarized them into new tasks (refer below).
Project Management
Alpha phase was extended another time to Apr.11 to allow for a feature-complete product. Our latest milestone has been updated as below (screenshots attached). With Alpha extended two more weeks as planned and Beta shorter than expected. Our delivery date is expected to be the same.
Based on the feedback from Playtest Day, a number of tasks under programming and art/UI were added and assigned (screenshots attached). Most of the tasks were expected to be completed during Week 11 to wrap up Alpha and others during Beta in Week 12 and 13.
Art/UI Tasks by Apr.4 
Programming Tasks (Alpha) by Apr.4 
Programming Tasks (Beta) by Apr.4
Programming
On the programming side, a group of players can be divided into smaller groups to solve puzzles and they can solve multiple puzzles one after the other. Group division and three puzzles can be dynamically generated by algorithms thanks to Jeffrey, Chao, and Shicai.
The UI has also been updated weekly based on the design from Amber and Alexa. Currently, the player will be able to distinguish between themselves and other players based on different saturations. The spinner interaction has been updated from pressing buttons to spin to drag to spin. Players can use an emote to display a thumb up icon to the world.
Art/UI/UX
Our latest color palette, put together by Amber, is shown below from less saturated colors to most saturated to accommodate different occasions (images attached).
Emote to thumb up is created a colored background by Amber as well (images attached).
The layout of the pages have been iterated together by Amber and Alexa as below (screenshots attached).
What we plan to do:
Next week is another short week from Monday to Wednesday. From Thursday on (Apr.7) is the most anticipated annual CMU Carnival. Despite the short week, we expect to have a finished product finally by the end of next week and have another playtest.
