Game Analysis : Gooperate

Games Design

Type
Playability Evaluation Course

Research Brief
Playability and Social Presense in Gooperate Game

Role
UX Researcher

Gooperate is Cooperative two-player game created by Tamatin Entertainment, Indie Game studio from Indonesia. Players’ goal is to reach their respective crystals at the same time where it consist of jumping over ravines, breaking rocks and avoiding enemies. The twist in Gooperate is each player’s jump action is bound to the other player’s jump button. This mechanic put communication and coordination between player become essentials in order to win the game.

Playability and Social Presence

In order to create a successful playtest session, a planned and concise brief should be prepare first. There are two main aspect that will be tested in  Gooperate:

1. The difference playability and enjoyment between arcade controller and keyboard, by using computer keyboard and custom cardboard prototype arcade game controller.

2. Player Perception and Social Presense in the Game, such as how player communicate in the game and how they manage teamwork.

Playability and Controls

Test is conducted by comparison how player controlling game using keyboard and arcade controller (low fidelity version, using cardboard for building the controller). From the playtest, we found that:

1. Panic causes players to forget about the jumping mechanic. E.g. when a laser approaches
2. The keyboard is more familiar than arcade controls.
3. In playability context, both the keyboard and the controller have similar gaming experiences.
4. Tester tend to do unintentional movements when using the arcade controller.

Gooperate is designed as two player arcade game that required both player. Because the limitation of the control of both player, they need to communicate each other in order to reach goal (the “jump” button is on other player side, so first player need to ask the second player to push the “jump” button). From this playtest, we found that:

1. Players were confused about the jump direction
2. Facing direction isn’t clear enough.
3. A pattern of “break the obstacles (stones), then think of the puzzle” started to emerge
4. Tendence to move simultaneously rather than moving one by one
5. Turns out that players only focused on their character movement rather than collaborate with their partner.

After playtesting session is over, we write a conclusion about what we insight that we gather and player behaviour towards the game. The findings are:

1. The game feels like a single player game
2. The only reason it’s multiplayer is the jumping
3. Player mainly focus on your own movement
4. Keyboard is easier, arcade fits better if the game is played in a party environment.