Playtest Type: Blind (First-time player with zero prior knowledge). This mimics the real launch experience to see if players get confused and abandon the game early.
Focus areas: Onboarding clarity, UI/UX, game loop, pacing, and narrative delivery.
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🎬 Trailer & Presentation
Expecting a psychological horror / narrative exploration direction early on, reading it as backstory-focused (00:00:09)
Perceiving clean visuals and good logo quality, strong first impression visually (00:01:18)
Feeling initial simplicity despite assumed deeper narrative complexity (00:02:22)
⏱ First 5 Minutes Impression
Getting a strong first impression through small animations and overall presentation flow (00:02:49)
Feeling slight tonal mismatch with colorful/crayon-like visuals vs expected darker psychological tone (00:03:03)
Really smooth intro due to well interfaces (chat with Tom)
🧭 Onboarding, Goals & Feedback
Experiencing menus and transitions as very smooth and well-flowing (00:10:16)
Noticing tutorials chaining naturally into each other, feeling intuitive (00:10:54)
Missing certain repeated elements but not feeling punished for it (00:12:49)
Not clearly understanding why certain transitions/returns happen (00:19:29)
Lacking clarity on when/why to use journal or how it connects to progression (00:40:18)
🔥 Fun Factors & Peak Moments
Enjoying the layered interaction with journal as a secondary system (00:40:25)
Finding narrative elements and voice interactions engaging and intriguing (00:17:44)
Appreciating simple, self-explanatory puzzle moments (00:25:50)
💡Ideas
Emphasizing visual tone more consistently toward psychological horror (00:03:10)
A player kinda doesnt want to try go back after jumping over the books without being told (maybe I missed it) (00:19:20)
Strengthening guidance or framing for journal usage and its narrative/mechanical role (00:40:01)
Ensuring core mechanics (like blinking) evolve in interesting ways over time (00:13:09)
🐞 Bugs / Crashes
No clear technical bugs encountered, mostly perception/clarity-related issues
🎯 Game Loop & Motivation
Following narrative curiosity and uncovering backstory as primary driver (00:01:09)
Engaging with object interaction and puzzle assembly (essay pieces) as loop (00:28:56)
Feeling slightly unclear about next steps at times, affecting momentum (00:42:24)
😴 Boredom Threshold
Maintaining interest overall due to narrative and atmosphere
Slight risk of disengagement when direction becomes unclear (00:42:24)
👍What works well
Strong initial presentation and atmosphere-building through animations (00:02:49)
Very intuitive tutorial flow and UI transitions (00:10:54)
Journal system adding depth and a second layer of interaction (00:40:25)
Narrative tone and voice elements creating intrigue (00:17:44)
⚠️Biggest friction points
Unclear progression triggers (why being sent back / what caused it) (00:19:29)
Lack of clarity on journal purpose and how it guides decisions (00:40:18)
Getting stuck due to missing small objects or unclear next steps (00:42:24)
Slight tonal inconsistency between visuals and psychological theme after (00:03:12)
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