Updates after MVP playtesting

We were able to collect a lot of meaningful and important data after playtesting our MVP. The biggest piece of data we got was that there was not enough clues for the player to determine the story and solve the murder. A lot of players were discovering the underlying story at play, but there was not enough information available for the player to actually work out the story we envision telling through these clues. Given the limited quantity of clues present in the MVP, players were also suspicious of all the suspects in the game. From our perspective as developers, this is a welcoming sign because we want to make it difficult to solve the murder rather than blatantly telling the player who did it. We envision making the player explore the entire space, putting together multiple pieces of evidence they discover, and eventually getting to their final answer when they choose to exit the house. The feedback we got from the clues alone was great because we will definitely be adding more in to help the players discover more of the underlying narrative at work and help them figure out the murder in a more meaningful way. However, we won't be making it easy as we want the players to critically think. After all, what fun is a murder mystery game if the mystery is obvious?

A lot of players also didn't know where the center of the screen was and which objects were interactable. Our MVP didn't have a crosshair included, however we plan on including one and it changes colors when the player is able to interact with an object in the space. Through these means the player will be able to navigate the space better and know what is /isn't interactable.

Overall, the feedback was super valuable and put us in a good position to know where we need to focus our energy to finish this game. We already wanted to include more items/clues and include a crosshair to help navigation for the player. The feedback we got solidified our wants for these features to be included to make the game more enjoyable and likeable. Since we already planned on including a lot of the feedback we got in our playtesting, we did not need to pivot our priorities in the next few weeks. Our MVP served as the perfect middle point of our game and now we will push to make a clean, polished game for you all.

Thanks,

Group 4