Solitaire Post Mortem

Postmortem for Modded Solitaire

Addressing and Reviewing the Development Process

This modded version of Solitaire altered the piles into two solid colors in a certain sequence compared to the four traditional piles. Play is simplified but difficulty is created through timing a play through. 

The target audience is competitive players. Players may include speed runners or people who seek to complete a game as fast as possible. The game is simple so one is led to believe that their time can be reduced further and further. A player is relying on the shuffle to provide them a seed for optimal time. One’s skill is irrelevant when a shuffle can provide optimal moves for faster times. Much like the cup stacking game of old it’s simplicity begets the speed and skill necessary to beat others. 

Overall the main issue was reducing difficulty to make a game that wasn’t so easy but easy enough to speed run. We would find ourselves multiple times making the game way too easy or much too difficult to play fast. It would have been preferential to make the game two player. Something akin to what children play on long car rides together. However, the limitations of the assignment didn’t allow for it. We instead took the two player concept and morphed it into a single player challenge game. The shuffle of two decks to sort through was initially questionable. But we later realized that the panic to be fast would make the coordination much more difficult. The point of this was to make a simple game seem much more difficult when one reduces the time provided for them. The four minute start was decided upon because it’s enough to make one feel the pressure but not too little to where it seems impossible. It is with considerable practice that the time can be reduced possibly down to thirty or so seconds. If it were a real game I would love to see the leader board amidst players inch towards ten second territory. 

Task completion was of no consequence. We breezed through the iterative process with no issue. We complemented each other well, offered constructive feedback on each suggestion and did nothing but build upon what the other had pitched. This kind of development work is ideal, as all parties involved are contributing and heard. Much of the issues that came about revolving around game play were simply solved through minor tweaks and suggestions we would both provide. To put simply, with two level headed and reasonable people the iterative process can be a breeze. 

Going forward I think it’s imperative to cast a wide net in terms of concept and refine as you move forward. I have seen in other dev teams and my own that when you start with a solid and non adjustable concept it’s difficult to build around it later on. In the future discussing general concepts and refining them further. That isn't to say that building from the top down is bad or impossible but it puts a considerable amount of stress on the team and may not be conducive to a successful iterative process.