Playtest Report

Recordings

RatingsRough (−0.8)11 ratings ?

Playtime33 minlength of the session recording

AnsweredOct 12, 11:57 PMUTC

1Session 1 recording· 33 min

Think-aloud transcript· 32:26

00:01Um, this is the play testing for new science.
00:07I think the
00:10title is very intriguing.
00:11Um,
00:14uh,
00:15I want to reduce the volume of the game, but I think I just need to manually do it.
00:22Looks like there is no settings button here.
00:25Um,
00:27okay, starting cards.
00:29Uh, complete the Stone Age.
00:33Begin discovering.
00:36Cannot anymore, so you can see cards.
00:42Okay.
00:44And the Stone Age, a world discoveries have gone dark.
00:48You are here to lighten the game one at a time.
00:55Uh,
00:56select Earth.
00:58Almost everything ever made came from two or three things somebody already had.
01:05Um, now select water, Earth and water.
01:10Create.
01:17Hm, okay.
01:20What is this like this card button do?
01:24Um,
01:27info.
01:30What Earth building add to a set archive?
01:37Um,
01:41send the word.
01:44Okay. Um, I don't know what these tags mean, but let's let me just keep moving on.
01:54Antibody connection becomes bright again one out of very long time ago.
02:00Mud is a target card for this age and all four and the next age opens.
02:08All four of this, I guess.
02:12So mud um,
02:15and fire. Create.
02:19Okay, brick.
02:22Brick is not a target, but most of what you make is a step toward one.
02:27Okay. You can for something else.
02:30Press menu button top right.
02:32More opens up as you go.
02:35You can uh, lamp names your card, next card and open one of its ingredients.
02:44That's nothing. It shows you.
02:46Okay.
02:48Target's to go plant ash clay.
02:50Um, think about how you like
02:54or ignore the target completely to follow your own curiosity.
02:58Okay. Must go now.
03:0116 ages in all. All right.
03:03Um,
03:06so I guess Earth and seed
03:10and water.
03:18Okay. That was easy.
03:22Oh, he came back.
03:25Uh, ash would be um,
03:33hm, ash would be
03:36fire with
03:46hm, okay. Charcoal not bad.
03:50Clay would be mud fire.
03:56Oh, brick.
03:59Uh, what would make clay?
04:03Mud or water.
04:06I guess.
04:12There you go.
04:15And ash.
04:18Hm, what would make ash?
04:21Uh,
04:24ash.
04:28Uh,
04:33okay. I was close.
04:35Um,
04:38smoke. Uh,
04:42plant and fire made charcoal.
04:47Mud and fire made brick.
04:53Uh,
04:56ash.
05:08Okay. I wondered.
05:14Okay, now what? That was the longest age I will ever be.
05:19Almost all human times sit inside it.
05:22And and some moment somebody decides not to move on in the spring.
05:33Metal and everything that follows it cities, kings, taxes and the ring once the thing can be recorded it stops having being to be remembered.
05:47Um,
05:50three cards to start you off.
05:54Okay.
05:56Oh, so I don't need to choose any of the three.
06:01The bronze age wants four things, four new things and around the target list.
06:08Okay.
06:10Granary, meat, wall, bread.
06:13The three cards I gave you are what this age has built from.
06:16Spend them. They are under recent if you want another look.
06:23Um the board just got quieter and now I have the cards that cannot help this age.
06:30So what is left is worth trying.
06:33Target mode button on the card.
06:37Turn it off and and it is easy to go around and circle.
06:42Every Every target is within three crates of what you start an age with.
06:48So the weight through it never It's nearer than it looks.
06:54Okay, I don't understand what it actually means.
06:57Um
07:01wait. Let me just continue.
07:03The same cards can go in the booth in both slots.
07:07Tap it twice. Two bricks make a wall.
07:10Okay.
07:12Uh see my badges.
07:16I have 15 cards. Okay.
07:21Um back to game.
07:33I still don't fully understand what the target mode does.
07:37Focus on your target. The cards cannot that cannot help you make them.
07:42Oh, I see. Um hm I don't think I need it.
07:48Um
07:49meat. Um
07:53caramel.
07:55Um
07:58and maybe food, fire.
08:06Okay.
08:09Wall. Like I said, brick.
08:14Two brick would make wall.
08:17Um bread. Um
08:22like plant,
08:24fire.
08:27Um
08:29what else?
08:37Um
08:43hm
08:45and farmland?
08:49Oh.
08:53Okay. Um
08:57granary. Um
09:00cordon.
09:05What does it do if I add it to research?
09:12Look for it in a trade.
09:16Okay.
09:19Oh.
09:20What does this do?
09:24I think um
09:29um add to a set.
09:32Like these information here doesn't give me any any like I don't know any like useful information.
09:45Um and like I don't know what this does, like like a button does.
09:50Um
09:52I guess
09:55granary might be two wall.
09:59Let's see.
10:04Oh. Okay, I think I got something even better.
10:09Um
10:14Let's see.
10:17Hm.
10:19Or what if I combine three bricks?
10:24Oh, another wall.
10:27Um
10:38Clear the land by fire to create temporary farmland then moving on when soil depletes.
10:46Hm.
10:50Bread.
10:56Hm.
10:59What is this auto? Oh, you can reduce the size of it.
11:05Um
11:14If they do this crop
11:18continue.
11:24What if Oh.
11:27Is this some kind of like a special effect?
11:34Looks like a has like a hologram kind of like effect on the card, but I don't know whether that's intended.
11:44Um and wall.
11:48Oh, nice.
11:50So I got the granary.
11:52Um now I need to get bread.
11:56What if I combine
11:59two crops?
12:03Mm, not bad.
12:08Not wasted. What you maybe comes an ingredients later.
12:12If you would rather aim turn target mode on
12:16and keeps only what leads to target plus my gifts.
12:21Okay. Um
12:24think I want to do crop and fire.
12:32And let's see.
12:35Harvesting.
12:38Why? Um get target mode.
12:48What would give me the
12:57Mm.
12:58Crop plant and fire.
13:05Okay. I already got that.
13:08Let's get some hint.
13:11Earth.
13:15This is a step towards bread agriculture.
13:22Um
13:28Wait, I think
13:31what? Earth with something.
13:36Earth
13:49I think that was a step towards to
13:54agriculture.
13:56Oh, earth and farmer.
14:06Okay. Mm, now I now that I got agriculture
14:14um
14:17I don't remember how I got this card.
14:21Um I guess it would be nice if you can like show what combination of which combination of the cards gave me, you know, all this.
14:33Um well, with agriculture and fire.
14:40Oh, damn.
14:43I got another charcoal
14:46agriculture
14:50twice
14:53or maybe crop.
14:58Harvesting.
15:03What that would be?
15:09Oh my. Step towards bread agriculture and something.
15:16Agriculture and wheel.
15:19Fall.
15:22Um
15:27farmer with fall.
15:35Agriculture.
15:38You got to agriculture card.
15:42Mm.
15:49What about this? Oh.
15:53Okay. What about
15:59I still don't have any idea of how to get windmill.
16:04Three more cards to make counting this.
16:09Mm.
16:13What would give me
16:17windmill? Okay.
16:20And now what? Oh.
16:23Okay. now it doesn't allow me to use it anymore.
16:25Uh windmill and fire.
16:32Flour mill.
16:34Okay, with flour mill fire.
16:39There you go. Thing this is like so tedious to be honest.
16:45Uh I feel like there was a lot of guesswork um without having like clear logic.
16:54I guess you know um
16:58I wouldn't say there wasn't any logic behind it, but like it was more of the guesswork um that I feel like.
17:08Uh that one did not fade out.
17:11CD after CD fell within a single lifetime and no history and has ever fully explained why some ages and from the inside.
17:22Uh although I like the graphics, um I mean I can I can confidently tell that this is all AI generated, but um still I can see that you put much more efforts to like make it
17:37beautify it.
17:39Uh bronze nude teen from the far side of the world.
17:44Fire is everywhere so those stop being treasure and start being ordinary.
17:50Um all right.
17:53Uh a word if it helps um the cards I gave you and also like um I can see how much effort you put in in the background or like the music like sound effect.
18:08Uh which I appreciate.
18:11Or if it helps the parts I gave you at the crossing are at this age is built from so try those first.
18:21And then pin the header will simply tell you.
18:27Okay, what do I have?
18:28Uh
18:30research.
18:32Mm what is this?
18:34Choose a card and research or sell the combination that makes it.
18:39You still make it yourself.
18:44Okay, let's say paper.
18:50Paper.
19:00Okay, what does this do?
19:02Research works while you are away.
19:05Oh. So it only reveals how to make the paper like in 30 minutes.
19:13Um
19:15Mm I don't know whether I have like a patience to you know uh
19:22wait for it uh but we'll see.
19:26Uh blacksmith uh
19:30blacksmiths need Oh I thought it would need fire uh fire
19:38and fire and metal.
19:43I guess.
19:48Mm
19:53furnace um
19:57furnace and
20:01metal and fire.
20:06Okay. There you go.
20:09Um a coin
20:14metal
20:17uh and blacksmith.
20:20I think this could be sword
20:23not a coin. Oh metal work.
20:29Mm
20:33Okay, metal work
20:37blacksmith
20:40and forge.
20:44Steel
20:47not bad um
20:50steel and blacksmith.
20:55Okay. So I got the sword.
20:59Um
21:07What if I combine
21:11all the steel is gone?
21:14Metal and trade.
21:22There you go. And paper would be
21:30clay alphabet or brick.
21:36Uh
21:38I don't know. Maybe let's do clay first.
21:42Writing uh
21:53Okay. Modern age literature um
21:59what would make paper
22:03and
22:06alphabet
22:11or writing? There you go.
22:15Oh I didn't mean that.
22:20There you go.
22:24Okay.
22:26Well that's never the better metal.
22:38We send Rome.
22:43Mm
22:46Herodotus already thinning more because so showing is on the way to target or I guess from crossing.
22:55Oil hunter. Okay.
22:58Uh let's see my badges.
23:01Oh
23:06Mm
23:11Okay, back to game.
23:15Ooh
23:17bakery.
23:20Um
23:23and trade.
23:28Nice.
23:31Um
23:34marketplace.
23:43Two traders.
23:47Okay. I got market not a marketplace.
23:53Um
23:56What if I add two markets?
24:03uh religion
24:07uh music temple
24:11let's see
24:16okay
24:20so I guess that's not a part of either religion or mosaic
24:25um
24:39um
24:43um
24:56um
24:59mosaic
25:04uh
25:06clay
25:10temple
25:14or brick not brick
25:21pottery
25:28okay um
25:36let me see earth something becomes religion earth and temple
25:46I think I would have not guessed uh that earth in temple becomes religion
25:54uh mosaic
25:58um what that would be
26:05okay next hint next into what in 37 seconds
26:12uh
26:17what if I
26:21combine these three um
26:26uh
26:30temple
26:44let me go library
26:52um
26:58ash and something becomes mortar
27:02ash and brick
27:06okay
27:11ash and clay
27:22I need to make what mortar um
27:38um
28:01okay I don't know what to combine anymore um
28:10I don't think this makes sense at all but let me try it and see whether it spits out any cards oh wait how so
28:20how come water and ash becomes a mortar
28:25uh
28:28okay anyways uh mortar
28:32metal
28:36oh
28:38never mind uh
28:42it's mortar and
28:45brick
28:47and temple
28:50okay
28:58what if I combine mortar and music
29:02um
29:05um
29:15I already tried the metal clay brick
29:19uh let me try it with
29:24temple
29:30never mind uh
29:38um
29:42mortar brick
29:46wait I think brick and mortar became
29:50wall um
29:55tile
29:59and clay
30:03tile.
30:06Okay. Um
30:14now I guess mortar tile.
30:24Uh
30:26okay, I'm going to um
30:31stop playing this game for now.
30:34Um
30:37I think okay, let me stop
30:41like
30:43uh where's the
30:46sound effect? Okay.
30:49Okay, I think um
30:53like a uh during the whole time I was playing this game, a lot of time I thought uh it's just like, you know, uh I need to just lean uh depend on the lock like rather
31:08than like there is like a clear logic behind of like playing this game.
31:14And um
31:18like stage after stage um I feel like it's just like another you know, a version of the same same game that I played in the pre previous level which made me feel like
31:33I'm just kept doing like redundant work.
31:36Um and uh
31:40as I said like I like the graphic, I like the music, but uh I think you can't uh I think you can think more about like how to make the game more fun.
31:54I think uh right now uh
31:58like
32:01it uh as I said like it's more of a redundant job like doing over and over again like not giving not like uh I'm making like uh
32:16like some sort of like progresses in a way.
32:19Um
32:21uh and that's generally what I thought when I was playing this game.

functionalAudiovisual appealThe game looked and sounded great.Agree (+2)
ChallengeThe level of difficulty felt just right.Disagree (-2)
Ease of controlIt was easy to figure out which buttons and keys did what.Slightly disagree (-1)
Clarity of goalsI always knew what my goals were in the game.Slightly agree (+1)
Progress feedbackI got clear feedback on how I was doing.Slightly disagree (-1)
psychosocialAutonomyI had the freedom to choose how I played.Neutral (0)
CuriosityI was curious to see more of the game.Disagree (-2)
ImmersionI felt fully immersed in the game.Slightly disagree (-1)
MasteryI felt like I was playing well.Slightly disagree (-1)
MeaningPlaying felt like time well spent.Disagree (-2)
enjoymentEnjoymentThe game was fun.Disagree (-2)
Reviewer noteI really appreciated the presentation, art, and background music in the game—you can tell a lot of effort went into beautifying it [17:22, 18:00]. However, the core gameplay quickly started feeling tedious and repetitive [21:17, 31:18]. A lot of the card combinations felt like pure guesswork rather than having a clear underlying logic, which made progression feel reliant on luck [21:18, 31:00]. Moving from age to age felt like doing the same redundant tasks without meaningful progression [31:33, 31:54]. There were also a few UI pain points: no in-game settings/volume controls [0:22], unclear button and tag explanations on cards [1:44, 9:32], and no log or recipe history to remember which cards created an item [14:21].

New Science Demo

Recordings