Minimap User Testing

Background

Retroactive is an isometric game where users race against the clock to complete chores before Mum gets home. The theme of the game revolves around it being late at night, way past your bedtime, and as such, we intended to lean towards a more thriller genre, as users would navigate around an unknown house. We also decided to have a fog like effect (or spotlight) for the game screen, where only the area around the player would be revealed, with everywhere else being dark and obscured. Currently we are in the end game of the game production, in which we must decide whether to have a minimap to be kept in the game, which would give a larger view of the map. The purpose of the minimap would be to aid players as the area is unknown, and would help players navigate without unnecessary backtracking.

Aim

The purpose of this user test is to gather users thoughts on the choice of keeping a minimap in the game given the genre we are going for as well as the other game aspects we have already developed. With the thriller/maze house, we want to know if providing a minimap will steer away from our theme, as it may make it too easy to navigate, given that we are also restricting their vision with the fog. Furthermore we will present the minimap as we have currently implemented (showing the floor tiles) to the users and listen to their thoughts on it.

Testing Plan

Generally we will be gathering users opinions on minimaps in various games, as well as similar thriller/horror games. We will also show our game with its current implementation of the minimap and fog.

1. Explain the game's backstory and setting to the user.
2. Explain the theme and genre we are aiming for and our current implementations which contribute to it.
3. Start the game for them and explain the basic movement controls.
4. Allow the user to play with the game, asking them to complete the chores and get to the bed. Allow them to repeat as many times as they want.
5. Interview the user with the following questions:
   • A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?
   • B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?
   • C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?
   • D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?
   • E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

User Testing

Our test consists of 5 users, with various ages and gaming experiences.

User 1:

A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?

• Not really useful, all you can see is the floor and you can't really see the separate rooms.

B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?

• Yeah the place is really dark, it's hard to make out quite a lot of stuff. A minimap may be useful but it the place is pretty small and you can only see the floor

C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?

• The map is pretty small, and the furniture is really big.

D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?

• It's weird to try go for a horror game when all I'm doing is chores and stuff. but the map is too small to need a minimap, like it's easy enough to do the chores and run to a bed in a flash. Maybe making the map bigger since I can still make out a lot of the house despite the fog.

E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

• I haven't played it, but the resident evil games I think are like this, where you're in a house and its supposed to be horror. I'm sure these games don't have a minimap to show where all the rooms are because then it takes a lot of the scariness away since I know where to go. Also they're scary because there are zombies chasing you and there's not anything in this game. Maybe take some of those things for inspiration.

User 2:

A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?

• I didn't really use it since I knew where to go. (The user played the same level a few times)

B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?

• Yes it was very hard to see anything around me. Yes if it was brighter and showed more than the floor.

C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?

• The map is a normal size. No.

D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?

• I wasn't really scared by anything in the game. Maybe make more levels since I knew where to go every time.

E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

• I don't really play any games. Maybe make it more scarier.

User 3:

A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?

• Not useful, I just went room to room.

B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?

• Yeah it made things hard, but I kind of knew where everything was after quickly running through.

C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?

• It's really small, I ran through all the rooms in under a minute.

D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?

• Yeah, make the place bigger and something to run away from if its gonna be a horror game. There's a cat but it doesn't do anything to me.

E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

• I played the binding of Isaac and risk of rain, which I think is kind of similar with how there's supposed to be random generation. The binding of isaac has a good map but it doesn't show everything like what your minimap does, since it only shows the rooms you've been to. RoR doesn't have a map since you can kind of see everything already. The map is big, but since its a third person game, there is no need for a minimap. I would suggest that you do a minimap like the binding of Isaac or get rid of it and make it so you can see everything.

User 4:

A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?

• Not useful since It doesn't tell me enough.

B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?

• Yes, it was hard to see around the place. If the minimap told me more it would be useful, but I don't know where I am.

C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?

• The map is small and my character is small, but the objects are big. Yes.

D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?

• The game isn't scary. Maybe make more things for me to win.

E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

• I don't know any horror games.

User 5:

A) How useful did you find the minimap in navigating around the house?

• It wasn't helpful since I went to each room pretty fast.

B) Did the fog make things hard enough for you to move around? Was it hard enough to need a minimap?

• It did make it pretty hard to see what's around you, but I didn't really need the minimap.

C) What did you think about the map size? Was it too small?

• It's small, and I knew where to go every time. Too small

D) Given the story and theme of our game, do you think it could be made harder?

• Maybe if there's something to stop you. The cat doesn't really do anything you, and I can get to the bed really fast.

E) Can you name any games with a similar theme of a thriller house? Do you think we should take inspiration from their implementations?

• Maybe like the Amnesia games, which I think is what you're trying to go for. The whole idea is that its an unknown place which you have to navigate through, so having a minimap doesn't really add to the theme of mystery/thriller.

Analysis and Conclusion

Generally, the users appeared to dislike the theme we are leaning towards, as well as not finding the minimap useful in our games genre. A majority of users found the game area to be already small, and as such, they did not use the minimap since they knew where to go since it was the same level every time. Furthermore a lot of responses mentioned how even if they did look at it, it didn't tell enough about the map what it would be useful, as our current implementation only had the floors being displayed. Since the minimap didn't tell where the player was or where the bed was, it didn't make things easier for users, that is if we wanted to make things easier. As the current state of the game, the map is too small, which makes completing each level easier and easier as the map stays the same essentially. Users discussed how they didn't need the minimap because they knew where to complete the chores and get to bed after every level. Furthermore some users mentioned other games in this genre, where players must traverse an unknown area, and how minimaps aren't used as it takes away from the thrill of not knowing what's behind each door, however in those games, players would be chased by something.

Currently we have been discussing whether or not to keep or remove the minimap from the game, and the data we have gathered has made us lean in the direction that a minimap isn't necessary for gameplay given the state of the game. Furthermore it would be contradicting the fog feature we have implemented, as we are trying to make navigation easier and harder.