"Hide and Seek" Prototype 1 - Design Journal Inspiration

This prototype is highly inspired by space exploration games. I wanted to combine the concept of a hall with countless rooms with an open environment, and observe which option is best for the user to navigate.

Story & Goal

Imagine, you are a supervisor in a summer camp and recess is about to end. The kids are playing hide and seek, and you must find all 20 of them. They are all in their red uniforms and they are hidden in the backyard and in the rooms. To have a better view, you decide to climb to the balcony to find the other kids. While you search for the kids, you get distracted by the playground and ride the wooden ring. Then, you discover a cave in the rocky mountain…

Implemented Features

"WASD" and arrows to move the character
"R" to rotate the tree leaves and the playground ring
Kick the toys when character collides with basketballs and soccer balls in the backyard
Find and pick up the 20 kids that are playing hide-and-seek
Click anywhere to build stairs or platforms

Features to implement

Add a score with the number of kids found and the number of kids lost
Make the user slide in the playground
Make the user ride the playground ring
Make the user ride the swing
Create a cozy secret room inside the cave

Used the FREE Stylized PBR Textures Pack by Lumo-Art 3D

Questions for play tester:

What is your first impression of the game?
How difficult is the game?
How did understand the story of the game?
What aspect of the game do you find the most interesting?
What there any option you wanted to do that you could not?
If you had the power to change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
How would you describe this game to your friends and family?
Which features did you test?
How much time did you take to explore the game?

Feedback from playtesters:

First impression and overall experience with the game: Most play testers enjoyed exploring the world and the environment. It also reminded them of a childhood game. This game was easy and "relaxing" to play because the player can jump over the walls in the maze.
How the players understood the story and the goal of the game: They seemed to be disoriented at the beginning, but they would start searching for other red capsules after interacting with the first red capsule. Some assumed that the goal is to search all the hidden red capsules by reading the title "Hide and Seek" and had to read the Wiki to understand the story of the game.
Interesting features: Many found the contrast between the density of the maze and the open area interesting, and the possibility to rotate the trees with "R" although it did not really serve a purpose.
Aspects to improve: There were a lot of features that did not serve a purpose in the game, but it would be interesting to implement them to solve a problem. For example, the swing and the playground which were only decorations. They suggested that I add a score counter and instructions for the player to understand the game at the beginning. They also recommended to add a feature using a mouse to look around, to be able to delete the created platform (because the character would be stuck between the platforms), use the balls to solve a puzzle instead of blocking the way, and the click feature to create a more complex maze as well.
Time spent playtesting: Most of the play testers spent 10 to 15 minutes to test all the features and explore the world.

"Hide and Seek" Prototype 1 - by Carole Chao screenshots