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In this episode I take my game to GDC in San Francisco, and get some feedback. Along the way, I learn some tough lessons about playtesting and making assumptions about your players.

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Don't make this assumption about your players

Full Developing Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc38fcMFcV_uH3OK4sTa4bf-UXGk2NW2n GMTK is powered by Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/GameMakersToolkit In this episode I take my game to GDC in San Francisco, and get some feedback. Along the way, I learn some tough lessons about playtesting and making assumptions about your players. Try the demo yourself - https://gmtk.itch.io/untitled-magnet-game === Credits === Music By: LAKEY INSPIRED @ https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired License for commercial use: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported "Share Alike" (CC BY-SA 3.0) License. YouTube Audio Library Music and sound effects provided by Epidemic Sound - https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/vtdu5y (Referral Link) === Subtitles === Contribute translated subtitles - TBA

Comments

Dennis

That was interesting (and relatable 😆). One more solution I can add from experience: Get some distance. As a solo-dev I have made it my MO to finish a section - usually a whole level and/or a boss fight - and then work on an entirely different part of the game for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Then I play the former part again and usually will get wrecked. Only after I made it easier to a point where I can reliably beat it again, I will pass it on to my playtesters. Now, that was for a platformer game - I don't think you can ever get enough distance to completely forget your own puzzles, but it can help to try it anyway. If you get back to it and have to think for too long about what you made there, that's probably a red flag.

Cam

Loved the video, Mark! I enjoy writing a note to myself against my level designs describing what I'm trying to teach the player. This has often kept me focused on a singular goal and keeps the design honest. Also, being able to view the notes in a linear list gives me an overview of the progression. This allows me to spot opportunities to tweak the progression. Eg. decrease a jump in difficulty if I pushed too quickly with new mechanics. Thanks again for the vid, I'm getting a lot of value out of your videos after getting back into game dev after a 2 year mental health hiatus. Keep up the awesome work.