Our first play-test consisted of an analog version of our game where we tested the “spot the difference” or “find the clue” mechanic that would be in our game. It was set up in a way where the narrative cards (which provided the player with choices) would link up to one of the drawn crime scenes based on the choices the player made. Some heuristics that we were looking out for when conducting this play-test included: players should be able to navigate between choices with ease during the narrative portion, players should be able to properly explore the environment with the flashlight mechanic, players should be able to use the flashlight in order to look for clues in any given environment, and players should not have to ask questions on whether or not the certain objects they hover over is a clue. 

Our play-test was conducted in a classroom setting by two different people. Both people receive a brief overview of what the game was about, and what was going on during the play-test. Both players played at least one play-through of the analog prototype, and all notes were recorded digitally along with observing the players reactions. Based on what we observed our results and data concluded as: players were able to navigate between choices during the narrative portion, players were able to properly use the flashlight mechanic while also using it in order to find the clues for the current crime scene, and players were unable to distinguish what the correct clues were without asking multiple questions.

Based on the data we have gathered some things that will change or has changed for the next iteration of are game are, making it so the players have a clearer understanding of what they are looking for in the given crime scene. This will be achieved by providing the player with the information necessary to know what they are looking for in the first place, such as pictures of the clues and a name associated with it. Another thing we are likely going to add in the next iteration is more crime scenes and additional narrative. The next big step for the project will be moving the narrative portion of the game over to the twine engine, to better flush out the choice mechanic. This will hopefully ensure that the narrative will be better polished once the transition to Unity is made.