Convention Takeaway:
Idol Run had a positive response at OrlandoIX, with players playing for 10-20 minutes at a time. However, there were a couple of major problems with the level designs.
Because we developed the game so rapidly, levels were only playtested by our team. This resulted in the levels being much more difficult than we expected. Most playtesters only got through the first campaign level, and at a much slower time than expected. All created levels should have been much easier.
Additionally, we didn’t take into account child players. Because all of our playtesting was done by adults, the distance between hand-holds was designed for wingspans of 5-6 feet. This size requirement made it difficult for kids to play and enjoy our game.
In the future, I must take into account every kind of player. This is achieved with playtests by diverse people. If we had done this for Idol Run we could have avoided these issues.