Today we ran a user research session to see how a first-time player would play Farm Farm Tile. We wanted to check whether the player would tap things differently from what we expected, or get stuck because the game was not clear.
We opened the game on an iPhone and watched. At first, the player tapped a few tiles without much of a plan. After seeing the tiles move into the tray and matching the same vegetables, the player understood the basic rule quickly. We did not need to give a long explanation.
How the player held the phone
The player held the phone with both hands and tapped with the right index finger. Their finger covered part of the board each time they tapped, but they kept playing without stopping.
What happened during Stage 1
The user began by pressing tiles that looked easy to reach. Soon the user started looking for the same vegetables instead of tapping randomly. The score reached 200 while we were taking the photos.
There was no major confusion about the basic matching rule in Stage 1. The stage number, score, board, and tray were also visible while the browser controls were on screen.
What we want to check next
This time, the basic rule was understood quickly. In the next session, we want to pay more attention to the parts that can cause confusion later.
We will watch whether players keep tapping blocked tiles, when they first notice that the tray is filling up, and whether the extra-slot button makes sense. We also want to see what happens in Stage 2, where there are more kinds of tiles than in Stage 1.
The most useful part of today's session was simply watching the first few taps. When we play our own game, we already know what every button and tile does. A new player does not. Handing over the phone and staying quiet showed us more than explaining the rules first.