Daniel Solis

Yay! I just got the feedback form results from the Belle of the Ball playtests at UnPub3. The data below is split between quantitative responses about the game's length, ease of learning, and so on. The qualitative responses get a sense of context for the player's preferences in gaming and what they liked about this game in particular. At the end are some findings and possible courses of action I could take in response to this data. Many thanks to Car Trunk Entertainment for scanning 35 handwritten feedback forms from the show! QUANTITATIVE DATA Overall the data was positive. Most said the game was easy or very easy to learn, which for some was possibly a negative aspect. Also many found the game length to be appropriate, though several comments in the qualitative section wished it was a little longer in a four-player game. A surprisingly small minority didn't care for the theme. I say "surprising" because I expected a core gamer audience to be a little ...

I'm back from UnPub3 with plenty to talk about, so this will spread out over a few posts. Trust me, there's plenty to discuss regarding Belle of the Ball , but I wanted to cover some of the more general interest stuff first. Case in point: The Panels! First up were the designers who have had their games at past UnPub events and have since been published. From left to right we have John Moller hosting the event, Ben Rosset with Mars Needs Mechanics , Darrell Louder with Compounded , T.C. Petty with VivaJava , Jason Tagmire with Pixel Lincoln , and Jesse Catron with Salmon Run . There was also a publisher panel which focused on how to approach publishers and the value of Kickstarter to fund your company's ongoing bottom line. From left to right we have A.J. Porforino of Van Ryder Games , Bryan Fischer of Nevermore Games , Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me Games and Dan Yarrington of GameSalute . I live-tweeted the panel discussion with quotes, but I couldn't ...

If you're near Dover, Delaware this weekend, I'll be demoing Belle of the Ball - Prototype O at UnPub3 . Check out the preview and interview on the UnPub site. You may recall that I playtested Prototype L at an UnPub ProtoZone last September, which led to a rapid revision cycle that eventually led Belle to its streamlined current state. This time, I'm mainly practicing my pitch and demo technique, the development on hold while publishers review the game. I'll also have a copy of Animal Rescuers on hand if you want to test a very alpha prototype that has already been getting really nice feedback . Clay Gardner had some excellent comments on embedding more of the victory information into the art itself. Perhaps if the animals were looking up or down to note that they thank the higher or lower cards. Perhaps if they held cards in-hand to note that they're looking at cards in hand. Definitely worth considering! It's still tentative, but I'm going to t...