For those new to our community, Jump Ship is a co-op PvE where you are the crew of a space ship. We're thrilled to share some insights from our recent office playtest.
Recent playtest
Last Friday, we had an office playtest for Jump Ship. Our goal was to evaluate the game's readability and how well it communicates information to new players. We want Jump Ship to be enjoyable and playable without any prior knowledge.
Big fans visiting the office
The playtest involved testing the the tutorial and one of the game's missions.
Key Insights
Our playtest provided valuable feedback on readability for sure, and overall status:
- The game is incredibly fun! The players were laughing throughout the session :)
- The chaos level is currently too high, leading to some confusion.
- Some items and their uses weren't immediately clear to players.
Our action plan
Based on these findings, we're already working on:
- Refining the chaos: We want the game to be chaotic, but in the right way. Players should understand why events occur and how to take action. We're improving the HUD to highlight critical information and provide more context for items in hand or in use.
- Balancing intensity: We're reducing simultaneous chaotic events to prevent overwhelming players.
- Clearer item descriptions: We're rewriting descriptions to be more direct and informative.
What's next?
We're planning another playtest soon to evaluate these improvements. Our focus is on smoothing out the gameplay experience and making it easier for new players to jump in.
The feedback has been instrumental in shaping these priorities. We're committed to creating the best space crew experience possible and we're excited to invite more community testers eventually and hear what you think!
Do you already have ideas on how we can make the game more accessible to new players? Let us know :)
Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. Together, we're creating an amazing universe!