Mutant Pizza

I’ve been playtesting Graphic Design is My Passion for about two months. I started before PAX, then put the game on the shelf for a while, then picked it back up afterward. I’ve been able to bring it to the table six times now, and each time I watch folks play the game and implement their feedback and my observations, the gameplay improves dramatically.

I’m confident that this game is almost ready. Almost. This is a really quick turnaround for a game, but the concept of this game has been rock solid since I began designing it. BUT there is an interesting piece of feedback from players that keeps cropping up, one thing that I think actually fully undermines the game. It’s interesting that I’ve heard it three times at this point, so I wanted to talk about it in this design journal entry.

And why not use a loose FAQ format to discuss this, where the headings play a sort of antagonizing interviewer to me–even though I’m writing both the headings and the body content. This is more or less how my inner monologue works, people. You’re getting a zoomed-in, hair-width close view of my unruly stream of consciousness here, people. Sorry about that.

Wait, what feedback keeps coming up in playtests?

Some playtesters seem to want icons to be discected across cards so they can assemble the object during play.

Why talk about this specific piece of feedback?

This feedback is interseting, because I receive it periodically but it’s something that I’ll never implement in this game.

Why won’t you give the people what they want?

For starters, and this is true with any peice of feedback: I don’t have to do what you tell me, sucker! Thanks for your insight, but it’s ultimately up to me to decide what gets implemented in the game.

But also, the game would be far too simple if I just put parts of an icon on the card instead of simple and abstract shapes. In fact, the game is exteremly easy as it is, and I need to do a little more to make it more of a challenge.

What are you gonna do, then, huh?

I was able to bring Graphic Design is My Passion to the table shortly before writing this journal entry. I’ll pen another entry about the exerpeince. This game is pretty close to being finished, barring a few tweaks.

Stay tuned!