Changing the Game Plan with Wager to Win

Before a product goes out, we do extensive internal and external testing.

This is both for quality control and for game play control; we don't always know if the game play in a new game is going to work in the classroom the way it's supposed to.

Originally, the game play with Wager to Win--the new game format within AllPlay Web--allowed participants to wager a percentage of their bank on every question. Their wager was dependent on how confident they were in their own ability to answer the question.

Naturally, we were really excited about this game format. Not only could individuals play against each other, but the element of wagering--and risking--was very compelling. Development and programming ensued, and we ended up with a beta (pre-release) version of Wager to Win.

There were a few elements we built in based on anticipated game play:

• We were afraid that if people were allowed to wager all of their points, there was a potential for someone to end up with a score of zero early and not be able to play the rest of the game. Therefore, people could only wager a certain percentage of their points.

• We wanted the ability to add variety, so we added multipliers by difficulty level. If a question was very difficult, for instance, the payout could be 5:1 instead of 1:1--and anywhere in between.

We set about testing Wager to Win--having friendly office-wide competitions over the web that involved a lot of trivia and a lot of smack-talk. Unfortunately, something happened in game play that we hadn't anticipated: because there were no real stakes for us, we all wagered our maximum amount possible every time regardless of the question difficulty level.

Because of the multipliers involved, the moment one person got a question right that no one else did--they were way ahead. If this happened in the beginning of the game the potential for a blowout lead was huge.

It was frustrating for the players lagging behind.

So what we did was modified the game. Wager to Win will now have two question options:

1. Bank-Building questions in the beginning--where people have an opportunity to gain points at a 1:1 ratio, don't have to wager, and don't lose points for incorrect answers.

2. Wager questions with a percentage limit--as described previously.

Now--voila!--AllPlay Web's Wager to Win is even closer to being released--with already-improved functionality.

Throughout the product testing process, we've also incorporated suggestions for how to display the data and results, game play and more from beta-testing clients, independent testers and trainers. We really do design our software with the training situation in mind; with the best possible experience for the trainer and the participants. We should also say: we are always open to feedback about improvements, changes and issues with the game play in our products.

We're constantly developing and constantly learning--and we hope you are too!