After a great week of introspection and inspiration, we sought ways to streamline and conclude our design and experience, to present a succinct and enjoyable experience for our intended audience.

While the narrative designer, tech and graphic artists were crafting and polishing components, the producers were refining the gameplay by syncing puzzle, narrative, and game flow. As experienced during playtesting, participants seemed discombobulated about how to proceed. We understood that given enough time and clues in place, they would figure it out. Yet, since we’re attempting to create a 20 – 30 minute experience, we can’t give ‘enough time’ to every type of ‘mystery-solving’ participant and grouping. We needed to give direction and tighten the experience.

What was really fun was seeing our tech programmer work their magic…

… adding a digital magnifying glass and UV light beam to the Tilt 5 controllers, visible to those wearing the Tilt 5 glasses. These will be used to explore the digital spaces Jive and Sunset will visit to retrieve information by magnifying the tiny and illuminating the invisible, respectively.

Lastly, we got a chance to playtest our newer version of gameplay flow with three (3) groups of 10 – 13-year-olds. We were glad to find that our ‘Phases’ of discovery play style worked to move participants along, and yet it depended on how persistently the participants used clues and information to answer and confirm their choices. Some just guesstimated, so we are correct to establish a “confirmation of deductions” system.