Skip to main content

On Sale: GamesAssetsToolsTabletopComics
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

Guest Judges Should Leave Reviews of Games

A topic by StudioDaeera created Apr 24, 2020 Views: 301 Replies: 4
Viewing posts 1 to 4
Submitted (4 edits) (+1)

One selling point on this competition was the guest judges. And while I think it's awesome they are going to play the entries that make it past the preliminary review, I think it's sort of pointless for us as developers if we don't even get to hear their impressions of our games.

I had asked PixCube previously about getting them to stream their game-play, but she said for technical reasons it couldn't happen. However I think it's definitely doable for them to post their impressions of the games as a review in text. This could be on the contest submission pages for each game, or on the actual pages for the games. If they did this, they should state who they are so future visitors know the review is from a veteran of the games industry. It's sort of an endorsement for the games they really liked.

I honestly feel like if we don't get to know their impressions, it'd be as if we were watching American Idol and all of the footage with the judges and their reactions were cut from the episodes. As it is, the winners will get emailed later on and they can only think "Wow, Koji Igarashi played my game!" But, like, what exactly did he think of it? Surely even with the winning entries the judges will have constructive feedback or specifics about their praise that the developers should hear. This makes it all the more a learning experience for the devs.

With my entry, I took some big risks and did something unique with the controls. Some liked it, some didn't. Others couldn't even figure out how to play the game properly. I want to know if the judges understood things (like my game mechanics) the way I intended them to be, etc.

Could this be done?

(+2)

They really should give some kind of impressions.
And on a separate note, I really liked your controls. Everything seemed pretty straight forward to me!

Submitted (1 edit)

Thanks man!

Yeah, I mean there are different reasons for that. A good example would be when a game developer on Reddit reviewed my game in r/playmygame. He played it for 20 minutes on stream and told me he genuinely thought it was the best itch.io game he'd ever played. But then he also said it was too hard for him. When I watched the footage of him playing my game, he didn't fully read the How to Play screen and then he even skipped over the Flash Shield tutorial. And so even when he was playing on Practice difficulty, he could not make it past Waluculican (the wasp mini-boss) because he wasn't using the Flash Shield.

But that being said, some people just aren't accustomed to shooters. And if you aren't accustomed to shooters, you're probably going to find the game to be very un-intuitive and won't fully realize how useful the Flash Shield is because you're just so concerned about staying alive more than anything else. For some, they just weren't paying attention, and for others, the important things just didn't 'click' into place for them and changed their experience with the game as a result.

Submitted(+1)

I would very much like to see this happen as well. Although I think it would be best to have a choice in whether or not they want the review public. Some people might be intimidated by a public review from a celebrity judge. Especially with so many demos entered. The information would be helpful I’m sure but it wouldn’t necessarily have to be public unless the entrant requested it. Maybe a review via email instead of an itch.io comment unless asked.

(1 edit) (-1)

Yeah, I made this post several months ago as the originator of the idea.  I agree it would be cool and it would stir up a lot of engagement, but Koji and them are so busy it's totally understable if not.   

It might be more reasonable to do it after the Nintendo Switch releases, like when Snoop Dogg plays Nintendo games for advertising.