<\/em>Describe the game in detail, especially how to play and what the goal is.<\/p>\n Also, be sure to describe your level of experience as a game designer\/developer. \u00a0I take this into account when offering feedback in my comments, but I try to score every game on an absolute scale. \u00a0I try to be honest in my comments about what works and what doesn’t, because otherwise how else are you going to learn how to get better? \u00a0But at the same time I don’t want to discourage someone new who may not yet have a lot of experience. If\u00a0I do give you some negative feedback, keep in mind that the fact that you participated at all, and especially that you were able to complete a project in 48 hours is a real feat. \u00a0Like finishing a marathon, it doesn’t matter if your time is world class, just finishing is an accomplishment to be proud of, and nothing I can say to you can to take that away.<\/p>\n
If there’s a build that I can play (Windows or Web), I try to play it.<\/h2>\n
Like the LD instructions say, if I can’t play it, I don’t rate it, leave a comment explaining the problem I had, and moved on.<\/p>\n
If the game really looked good, I may come back and try again later to see if the bug might have been fixed. \u00a0But it’s very likely that I won’t remember to do that.<\/p>\n
How to do well: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n - Make sure you test your game and get it working when you submit it.<\/li>\n
- Respond quickly to feedback if someone tells you they couldn’t play it.<\/li>\n
- Have a web version if at all possible.<\/li>\n
- If you do require a download, avoid making it require installation — just let me unzip and run an .exe. \u00a0I don’t want to have to go to the Control Panel afterward to remove it, and I don’t want it in my start menu.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
Play the game long enough to feel like I’ve given it a fair chance.<\/h2>\n
The amount of time I give to a game depends a great deal on how good it is. \u00a0I don’t have a lot of time to begin with, and if a game doesn’t give me a good first impression right away, I’m not going to give it very long before I give up on it. \u00a0If I suck at the game at first, I’m going to keep playing it, but if the game sucks, I’m only going to give it a minute or two, tops, before giving up and going to rate it.<\/p>\n
How to do well: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n - Don’t have a lengthy introduction or backstory. \u00a0I want to play right away. \u00a0Any story elements you put in the game should unfold as I’m playing. \u00a0If you do have a lengthy backstory, make it skippable. \u00a0If I have to sit through it every time I start a new game, I’m not going to play it more than twice.<\/li>\n
- Don’t make the mistake of thinking that subtlety is the mark of a good game. \u00a0Chances are I’ll miss out.<\/li>\n
- Make sure that the game presents itself to the player in a way that makes it apparent what you’re supposed to do, and what the controls are.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
Think and reflect on my experience<\/h2>\n
I take some time before I rate. \u00a0I think it’s fair to let the experience sink in and waiting gives me a little time to collect my thoughts.<\/p>\n
Rate and Comment<\/h2>\n Categories<\/h3>\n
I have to rate every game according to a consistent scale, or else the ratings don’t work for comparing one game to another. \u00a0I don’t always rate in every category. \u00a0I generally try to, but if there’s nothing to rate, like if you have no sound in your game, I will not rate it for audio rather than give it one star. \u00a0Unless of course the game is really hurting for lack of audio, in which case I might give it 1 star. \u00a0It depends somewhat on how important I feel the thing that’s missing is to the success (or failure) of the game in question.<\/p>\n
\n - Overall:\u00a0<\/strong>I don’t treat Overall as an average of the other categories; this category in my opinion reflects the overall feeling I got from the experience of playing the game. \u00a0You could have no sound and shitty graphics, and I might still give you a high rating if the game was good and I enjoyed playing it.<\/li>\n
- Innovation:\u00a0<\/strong>This might be the toughest category to do well in. \u00a0It’s really tough to come up with an idea that hasn’t been done before,\u00a0and<\/em> makes for a good game. If you manage to pull this off, congratulations.<\/li>\n
- Fun: <\/strong>Simple enough, how much fun did I have from playing your game? \u00a0What makes a game fun? \u00a0Mainly I think it comes down to the challenge curve and the aesthetics. \u00a0If you are capable of doing only one well in the time allotted, go for a good challenge curve. \u00a0Don’t make the game too hard at first, give the player an easy introduction to playing the game. \u00a0Don’t punish the player for making mistakes. \u00a0Play is about exploration and experimentation. \u00a0If I do something I wasn’t supposed to, it’s OK to give me a little negative reinforcement, but keep it light — don’t make me start the level over. \u00a0Give me a chance to get right back where I was quickly and try again. \u00a0If you have a challenge that is really tough, consider offering some kind of cheat so that if I just can’t get past it, I can still experience the rest of your game so I can give the whole thing a fair shake.<\/li>\n
- Theme: \u00a0<\/strong>How much did the theme inspire your design? \u00a0Sometimes it just comes together for you perfectly, and sometimes it doesn’t. \u00a0If you created a great game but it doesn’t fit the theme, I’ll still rate you highly in the other categories, but you won’t get a good theme score. \u00a0Weak theme scores often result from making a game within an established genre, and simply applying a veneer of theme without thinking about how to create a game that integrates deeply with the theme on a mechanical level. Conversely, a game that does well with the theme integrates it deeply with the mechanics of the game play, and does so in a way which creates a fun, challenging, interesting, and\/or rewarding play experience.<\/li>\n
- Graphics:<\/strong> There are a lot of ways you can have good graphics. \u00a0So many factors, in fact, that it’s tough to put into words. \u00a0The main thing is that your graphics have a unified, consistent aesthetic. \u00a0Simple graphics can be fine. \u00a0Graphics that successfully emulate a classic game system, such as the NES or original Game Boy, often go over well. \u00a0Good sprite animation and pixel art really do it for me. \u00a0Doing something novel, such as scanned photographs or drawings, can give a great effect if done well. \u00a0Lighting, shading, particles, blur, glow, and other eye candy, if well done, will enhance your score. \u00a0If you do something with 3D models, they should be well done. \u00a0This is much more difficult to accomplish. \u00a0Getting textures and lighting effects done well is critical to pulling off good 3D graphics.<\/li>\n
- Audio: <\/strong>If you have music, I’m more inclined to rate you a star higher than average, but your music has to be good. \u00a0It not only has to fit the style of the game, but it needs to not be annoying when listened to repeatedly. \u00a0Sound effects should fit the action on the screen, sound pleasing, and go together well with the other sounds in the game. \u00a0Also you should make sure that anything that should have a sound effect, does. Audio cues are very important to convey information in most games. \u00a0Some games don’t need audio, but they are few and far between, and there almost no games that can’t be enhanced with effective use of audio. Some games make special emphasis on audio, such as music games, and if a game integrates the sound effects or music into the game play especially well, they get top ratings. \u00a0Most games with good audio get 3 or 4 stars, but a huge number of games that I rate don’t exceed two.<\/li>\n
- Humor: \u00a0<\/strong>A lot of games don’t go for humor, and that’s fine. \u00a0If you do try to make a funny game, I’ll rate you in this category; if you obviously didn’t, I rate it N\/A. \u00a0If you did go for something funny, I rate it according to how funny I thought it was.<\/li>\n
- Mood: \u00a0<\/strong>In my opinion, mood and humor really could be consolidated into one category, but as it is, I rate this category based on the overall mood. \u00a0Was the designer going for a particular mood? \u00a0Were they successful? \u00a0How well did the various elements of the game contribute or detract from this mood?<\/li>\n
- Missing category: Controls:<\/strong> I really wish Ludum Dare would add a Controls category. \u00a0Controls are so critical to a fun, effective play experience, and it is not trivial to implement responsive, intuitive controls. \u00a0Unless your game is very novel, it should probably implement some standard control scheme, such as WASD or arrow keys. \u00a0Supporting multiple input methods is a plus — if I can play it with a gamepad instead of the keyboard, I will try to do so. \u00a0I often don’t bother to try this out, though, so be sure to note it in your description if the game supports a gamepad\/joystick. \u00a0A lot of the time I play games on my laptop, and for the reason I often suck at games designed to be played with the mouse. \u00a0Because of this I don’t much care for games where you control movement with keyboard and aim with the mouse. \u00a0But I try not to hold that against the game when judging it on Overall and Fun.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
If I have anything at all to say about your game, I’ll leave a comment. I like to say what worked for me as well as what didn’t.<\/p>\n
What else? \u00a0Oh, I wish that LD would add a feature to the site so that when I submit my ratings, I have the option to share the game I played and my rating of it on social networks. \u00a0Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, whatever. \u00a0We all have a lot more friends in our circles who play games than people who build and rate games for Ludum Dare. \u00a0If we could harness our friends and get deserved attention to games that we enjoyed, it would really do a lot for our community. \u00a0While I can manually share these games with my social networks, and do, I’d really like it if it were more convenient\/easy to do so.<\/p>","time":"September 2nd, 2012 7:00 pm","title":"How I rate an LD game"}