How can you use rapid prototyping to ensure your game is accessible and enjoyable for all players?

Man, LinkedIn AI was pushy about getting people to answer this AI-written question. No, rapid prototyping DOESN'T make your game more accessible or enjoyable for ALL players. It makes it more enjoyable for *you,* the developer. If you're interested in accessibility and user research, you're going to have to take a prototype you're happy with and - *gulp* - put it in front of strangers to find out if it's accessible or enjoyable. Good luck, don't die. And maybe don't take AI-written articles on game development too seriously.

I learned from fellow game designer and mentor Paul Stephanouk that rather than creating a game for "everyone" to instead think about the intersecting player motivations for lots of different kinds of "someones." When prototyping a game, it is important to get early usability feedback from players. This will help designers identify and fix any problems with the game's controls, mechanics, and overall flow. without feedback, designers end up making assumptions about what players want, which can lead to subpar output. Game designers should avoid making prototypes that rely too heavily on genre expectations, and ensure that they teach new players any unfamiliar concepts.

I've learned over time in the many projects I've been - small or big, community projects or professional work - and what we can see from the outside looking into other companies is that many of the most successful ones have been in a planning phase for months, if not years. There are many stories where people have a rough idea what they want, then talk about it in a designer meeting, then get to work - and while it can produce good prototypes and good games, it will never measure up to the meticulous planning of an incredibly passionate craftsman. Prototypes won't matter if you don't have that treasure map in your hand. That is all to say - create your tools before you get to work. In the end, it's all about the package.

The best part of rapid prototyping is figuring out what the game will be. Lots of rules or simple? Defining the goals is the logic behind game theory that helps the players know who, what, when, where, and why. Rapid prototyping is the most simple way to test the mechanics to see if it even works without spending a lot of time and energy on the artwork and marketing.

You need to make what's called a Minimum Viable Product and publish it on a private account on itch.io If they download it enough times, they will DEFINITELY pay for the much bigger sequel.

I'd say it depends on which game component you're prototyping, for instance; you can prototype a narrative with paper cards or a gameplay mechanic with physical tools or digital blueprints, the higher fidelity and feedback feasibility you seek the more complex the prototype can reach, all reverts back to the objective behind the prototype. If you want to test a specific game system where a lot of numbers are included, creating an Excel simulation (ex; Monte Carlo Simulation) is undeniably effective or use the Machination tool for more complex systems like economy systems.

To do that you need to basically make a game you can finish within a month's time MAXIMUM. This is called scoping, and if you cannot realistically finish that game within a month then you need to rethink your original game plan. The best artists kill their darlings. Trust me on this one.

Don't underestimate your efficiency in the tools you are already familiar with, even though they might not be the best tools for the job. The goal is rapid iteration and learning new tools might slow you down, just because of your proficiency in tools you are already familiar with.

You should use the tool you feel is right even if the end goal isn't to use that platform. This is including engines. If you know unity but this game is going to be in Godot there is nothing wrong with doing a rapid prototype in unity so that people can give you feedback on if it's even a good idea or not.

Rapid Prototyping should find you using what you're most adept with. Pick a toolset that allows you to be efficient and sufficient. For me, I stick with 4 main software: Photoshop for textures/UI/Art, Blender3D for meshes, Audacity for audio production, and Unreal Engine to build everything. This has everything I need to start putting together an entire game on my own where I can script all my gameplay mechanics, build levels for testing, and just about anything I could possibly think of. Find the workflow that works best for you that makes you feel confident you can quickly get a project up and running. You want to be at the point where whenever you think of a concept, you can quickly get it working in-game ASAP.

The key here is to idenfity what is the foundation for your game. It sounds silly, but it can be incredibly easy to get this wrong. Say, in one of my map-making projects for Age of Empires2, I was making a massive RPG map using the Ludicrus map size. The biggest selling point of that map was the technological challenge of making sure that Ludicrus can run smoothly and not the actual RPG elements, because Age2 has had a lot of issues back in the day with large map sizes. My work would have been for naught had I failed to identify how to handle dynamic despawn and respawn scripts to preserve player FPS. Always question and question everything you do, and give yourself the answer, the correct answer. Invest time in the right places.

Be prepared to watch your priorities change along the way. Even if you have your goal in mind, you may start building a component of the game and realize you need to accommodate another component to fit in later. This can be anything from level props to scripts. One thing I do when blueprint scripting in UE4 is create modular parts of my scripts that are open-ended in functionality so that I can easily add to a specific part of the script once I know I'll need to build onto it later on. Depending on deadlines, you may not have time to add things so make sure everything still functions after packaging even if you didn't complete that component. That way you can go back and update as needed while still playtesting.

Once your game is playable to the point of being addicting, make an itch.io account and let people play it for free. Why? Because if it doesn't sell well, you can delete the project and go back to the drawing board. No shame in that. If you aren't getting enough traction despite having a potential hit without a shadow of a doubt, you need to invest in advertising and marketing a bit.

I like to separate testing into two steps. 1: Test what you need to test. 2: Test blindly. In my book, there are no fancy-named ways to test, because you always test with a purpose. And once that purpose is exhausted, you test more and more. Any dev team can only put in so many hours to test, so you need to be able to get more playtime in, you need to put in the time, all the time. Because you will only identify how and if every cog works in sync is if you go through it over and over again. If you're on a lunch break, take five minutes and look through the main menu. If you ran out of tasks for the day, fill in the time with booting up your game and starting a playthrough. Take notes, and give your game designers something to chew on.

Ah, the fun begins! And the pain! So let's talk about preparing for errors. Annotate/add comments to your scripts so you can easily identify components and mechanics. Debug for print to screen so you get analytics specific to what you're testing. Again, keep assets modular so you can add/change as you go. Make a blockout of your game world and fill it with what you're currently testing. It'll become a funky little level with chests for testing opening containers, inventory UI, AI that follows the player character, etc. Then you get to watch as it either goes smoothly or up in flames! Build it, break it, fix it, cry a little, drink some caffeine, laugh at glitches, scream when you forget to close a loop, cry some more and get back into it!

Also remember your demographic. Just remember the types of games you liked to play as a kid, then tie your game tangentially to whatever game is popular with your age demographic. Remember though to never make assumptions and to always not profile too much. Iykyk

In my experience reverting back to prototype feedback and collecting unbiased data from play sessions, is the best way to enrich your design decision with both qualitative (why) and quantitative (what, how and when) depth, which leaves no place for the designer personal intuition to guide the game instead it will be guided by qualified data-driven approach increasing players' engagement. This means that you need to structure the required data pre-testing and their corresponding questions, these data could be extracted from player feedback and the actual gameplay metrics like; session length ...etc. Always remember to activate your analytical lens while observing the testing sessions.

Remember to pay attention to those numbers! If its selling like hotcakes, make a bigger sequel and put a price tag on it. Remember: these kids need daddies permission to use their credit card, and that gamer dads avoid Freenium games for a reason. Don't be greedy.

Never lose sight of what you are looking to craft. Just like how the Mazda787B needed so many years to get to the top against all the odds, in the end, we are looking to achieve perfection in our chosen game's genre, in our chosen car's engine (I heavily recommend looking up the story of the Mazda787B). And perfection is lots of small things done right. If you lose sight, you no longer have that vision, you will never be able to improve your game, you will never achieve perfection. Many tend to take in feedback and act on it without ever stopping to question. In the end, it will be a death of a thousand cuts if you treat feedback as instruction. Some feedback has value, some do not. Keep your image, your target audience in front of you.

The iteration stage of prototyping is a good place for experimenting with novel and highly risky mechanics. This is usually one of the final stages where big gameplay changes are easy to make. One you transition into actual development of your game, making substantial changes becomes increasingly challenging and costly.

Do not be afraid to throw something out if it feels like it isn't working. I learned this after many many solo projects that I worked on. Sometimes developers can become attached emotionally to some aspect of the game but don't let that stop you from being honest with yourself, you may find a better and more effective way by starting from scratch.

We are blessed as game devs to have so many tools. We are not bound by time constraints or shoddy technology. Deadlines are no longer strict, we no longer have to tie up a product, ship it and get working on the next. We can take our time. We can establish clarity and focus. We can remove the stress from the workplace without actually removing it. If you need an extra hour to test, you can take it. Post-launch support is a real thing. But NEVER forget that your first release is your first release. You might have to release early, but the package you release has to be of quality, of substance. First impressions matter. Image matters. The time you are asking of players to invest matters. Never lose sight of that. The package matters the most.