Production - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 247

designed. Find out what they thought was too hard or too easy and what gave
them the most satisfaction or enjoyment. Then go back to the drawing board,
adjust your design, and produce or acquire new assets. And test again. Test as
much as you can — even a second Alpha test will be helpful.

Beta Testing
The last testing period is Beta. Now there are no more placeholders, and the
testing conditions should be as close as possible to how your players will
experience the game. Add this to everything already discussed during Alpha
testing. It still applies. Make any changes, but they should be incremental by this
point, not massive.

Beta testing done? Guess what, you ' re ready for the Golden Master, the finished

version of the game. You ' re ready for your first day of class. Keep your eye on

your ultimate goal — what you want to achieve by the end of the course — and

dive in and reap the rewards (see Figure 14.3).

Figure 14.3
The prize at the end of the

“ Adventures in Gardening � class.