Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Alice in Capital-land

Team: Gotcha!

Game Overview

Nine shops in Melbourne Central contain balloons with a number on it. Teams will be given a diary and a camera. They must use both the camera and the diary collaboratively by reading one of the eight clues in the diary and search through photos in the camera to find the ones that match that clue. Then they must use those photos to find a place within Melbourne Central which contains a balloon. Each Balloon has a number written on it. The team must then record all the numbers they obtain. The team must solve all 9 clues and have all eight numbers. After having 8 numbers plus the two numbers provided the team must call the phone number they have found.

Story
Ok. Here’s the story. I was shopping around Melbourne Central today with my 7 year old niece, Alice. While shopping, I bumped into this gorgeous girl (giant breasts and all!) and with the help of Alice I managed to score her phone number. Now, me being an idiot, I let Alice hold on to the number for me… she thought it would be cute to write it down on the balloons I gave her… the problem is that she decided later on to hand out these balloons to random people in Melbourne Central. Please help me, it’s been 2 months since I’ve gotten laid! Luckily for me Alice is a pretty pedantic little girl, I know she wrote in her diary every place she put a balloon, I also know that she took 3 pictures of every location… she’s a bit weird that way.

Please find me the number… you got an hour.

Oh one last thing… I have no idea in what order Alice gave her balloons away, your going to have to piece that one together yourself.

Godspeed and good luck.
Bob D. Espret.

No. of players: 5+ players in one team

Location: Melbourne Central between Latrobe and Lonsdale.

Goal of the game: The Goal of the game is to Collect the missing number and call it within the hour. Failure to do so will result in losing the game. The team with the best time can be crowned champion of the game.

How players will achieve these goals: Through the use of the clues within the diary as well as the hidden clues within the images taken (hidden names of shops and so on…). The players will manage to locate the balloons. Using the numbers on the balloons they will then form the phone number and call it.

Special paraphernalia
Diary – provided by the GM.
Digital Camera – Provided by the GM.
Mobile Phone – Not provided.

Rules
• players are not allowed outside of Melbourne Central (Game boundaries are between Latrobe and Lonsdale).
• players are not allowed to discuss the game with members of other teams.
• Players MUST find all the relevant numbers before calling ( no guessing allowed )
• Players are allowed to split up into smaller groups.
• Players are not allowed to duplicate any of the clue materials.
• Player will look after the Diary and the digital camera any destruction caused to either will result in severe punishment and Robyn throwing a hissy fit.

1 comment:

Administration said...

Gamemaster report

Who would the game appeal to? (age groups, demographics)
Both male and female, age 16 – 24.

Goals

Does the player know that the goal of the game is?
The players were clear of the game’s goal and knew what they had to do to complete the game. The players were successfully on finding all the balloons and jotting down the numbers that were associated with each one. And they were successfully on figuring out the clues and achieved the goal.

Gameplay.

Was it too hard? Or Easy? Why?
The level of difficulties in the game was moderate, the players were required to link the clues written on the dairy and the photos on the digital camera together to achieve the goal, from my observations, it posed a bit of a challenge to the players.

Was it fun? Was it physically or mentally challenging?
Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?
The feedbacks that I received from the player after the game was quite positive, some of the players seems to enjoyed the game because of the moderate mental (solving the clues) and physical (moving around) challenges. In my opinion, some of the players would give this game a second go.

Does it have a steep learning curve?
No, the game was very easy to learn and understand.

Rules

Are they clear, comprehensible, logical? Are they easy to remember and follow?
The rules of the game were very easy for the player’s to understand and followed. None of the players has broken the game rules.

Magic Circle

Is it over an appropriate area?
The game was taken place in Melbourne central, the small area was very appropriate for the setting of the game, as the clues given in the game requires the players to be familiar with the place, and the players seemed to be at ease and knew their way around Melbourne central very well.

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate? Do such items fit in with the theme of the game?
Yes, the players were using the dairy and the camera very extensively during the whole game, as the goal of the game relies on the players to figure out the clues (found on diary and camera) in order to collect all the numbers on the balloons that was scattered around Melbourne central. The players seemed to enjoy flipping through the photos on the camera trying to link it with the clues found on the dairy.

Duration

Did it take too long?
The group took approximately 50 minutes to complete the game.



Game Master report

For the third game session I was a GM for my game.
Here is a list of things I noticed while being the GM. (note: Maria and I were late so Alec, the previous GM had started the game already)

- If the game was not clearly explained then players do not know exactly what was going on.
- It was impossible for Maria and I to check up on the players because there was no way we could find them in Melbourne Central, unless we followed them from the beginning
- Not everyone bothered with looking for all the clues
- Some people who recognised the phone number as being Maria’s didn’t know to solve all the clues (unfair to others)
- Not everyone is observant enough to notice that the number of stamps on each page (for each clue) is actually a clue for the order of the numbers
- According to some of the shop owners who helped us, the players are polite and instead of the expected rushing in, either one person goes into the shop or they spot the balloons from afar then walk off.
- Our game didn’t seem like it was organised properly, but I think its due to the shops which we incorporated into our game. Like getting permission from them and setting up the balloons (most of them start at 10 am)

Things we could improve on:
- Give betters clues that relate to the shops more. Some of our clues are too ambitious.
- Better explanation to players
- Provide more help to players as GM

I think our game could be adapted by shopping centres and tour guides (etc) to promote their facilities – encouraging players to find shops they haven’t heard of or been to.


Game Master report

Who would the game appeal to?
We designed it so that it would appeal to teenage to older audience, despite the initial impression that it was all about a child.

Was it too hard or easy? Why?
From our testing, it was quite straightforward. However some players have told me that a few clues were red herring. Two teams understand the game very well but the third team wasn’t all that enthusiastic.

Was it physically or mentally challenging?
It was more mentally challenging than physical as it was not a race. The clues weren’t that hard however so it wasn’t much of a challenge either in my opinion (but then again I wrote the clues…)

Does it have a steep learning curve?
No, it was pretty straightforward.

Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skills?
Because it is a storyline-based game, there wasn’t really another reason to return to it after you uncover the whole story. And also because there wasn’t any wins or losses there was no incentive to return. I was thinking of making it with more branch of storyline, but that would be impossible for this assignment.


Rules

Are they clear, comprehensible, logical?
We made them as clear and simple as possible. All of them are just about sticking together and don’t destroy the clues.

Are they easy to remember and follow?
So far no one has complained about the rules, so I can only assume that they were understandable enough from a player’s point of view.

Do they get in the way of playing the game?
We try not to restrict their actions too much. And again we haven’t had verbal complaints about it.


Magic Circle

Is a sense of the scope of the game established?
We thought it was. We made it clear that it was in Melbourne Central, inside shops. The storyline also matches the location as well so the game is contained in itself.

Is it over an appropriate area?
We weigh the possibility of different areas, but we chose Melbourne Central because there were a lot of diverse shops to accommodate a lot of different stories.

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate?
They don’t specifically condone to the brief, which is Word search, Video Camera and Balloon. Sure we used balloons, but that was used as a mean to present the answer rather than implemented as a gameplay gadget. Again with the Video Camera, instead of players taking pictures with it, we give them the pictures to play with. I think we cut too much slack from the players.

Do the paraphernalia fit in the theme of the game?
Word Search was taken laterally by our team. Instead of looking for words from a jumbled up thing, we made them search for the correct “location” from the notebook. It’s like reading through cryptic vague messages to search for the word (name) you need.


Goals

Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal?
Yes, as the actions that the players take is parallel to the action that Alice took to hide the numbers. You’re re-enacting the story, so to speak.

Do the goals seem meaningful?
The hardest part about making this game was to make the goal interesting enough that players want to finish it. Making that goal the phone number of some “really hot-chick with boobs” (was my number, but I beg to differ the description) made people want to find it.

Duration

Did it take too long?
Actually we were afraid that the time wasn’t long enough, but turned out that I underestimated the player and most finished in the 45 mins timeframe that we set!


Game Play

Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?
If we tweak it a bit and give them real prizes, they might. Although this has to be well-coordinated with the location so we need preparations.

What really worked about it?
The storyline, and the concept of following a trail that is defined worked very well. I would also consider the stores cooperation as being very successful.

What could have been improved?
The clues, especially the red-herring ones. I would also love to have more clues and make them a bit more difficult and not just contained to something that a kid would like.



Firstly, I should mention that the first round of the game was played at 9:30 which meant that most shops around Melbourne central were still closed, so the balloons were placed next to the shops on various walls and windows. This truly transforms the game from a shop locating game to more of a “walk around and spot the balloons” kind of game. So it’s hard to get a accurate look at how the game was played in the first round. But, from what I could see the game was unfolding in the way which we hoped, the team was utilizing both the camera and the diary, which was one of my main concerns. They seams to find all the balloons with 10 minutes to spare, seeing that in this version the balloons were much more obvious then the second and third round, I would say that it’s a good time. I think the learning curve of the game was just right, the first 5 minutes of the game usually ( of the two games I observed ) consisted of the team figuring out how the diary and the camera work together, which meant there was an element of something new to it, which was something we were definitely going for. I spoke to the rest of the teams who played our game afterwards, and I tried to evaluate what attributed to the game success or demise. One of the things that I was told was that some of the players didn’t quite understand how the game should be played, which is something I should attribute to how the GM delivers the rules to the team playing the game. As always, there is a room for human error.

From what I managed to observe I think certain things worked well and certain things needed to be fine tuned. I think the general feel of the game worked well, there was a linear story that fueled the game. The fact that at the end of each game the team told me that they “called the girl” and not “finished the game” meant that there was some element of suspension of disbelief happening. I didn’t follow the teams through all the game, because I didn’t want to damage the game flow too much. I could see that some clues worked better then others, some locations were easier then others, which is the way it will always be. I would be happy if some of the clues demanded more lateral thinking from the teams. Maybe utilize the information center or the digital screens around Melbourne Central. Another aspect of the game which I believe could have been developed is the commercial aspect of it. If this game was played on some regular basis with different people each time, then it would be in the shops interest to become a location in the game. Let us imagine this game being played regularly at some backpackers hotel as a learning the CBD game. Then aside the fact that the game is fun and educational, if I can take a bunch of tourists to a certain music shop and not another then it would be in the interest of that shop to be part of the game. There is a real opportunity for some grade-A product placement here.



I was one of the game masters of the Alice in Capitaland game. As a game master I had to make sure that every balloon was not tampered with. Because I was watching over the game early in the morning when most of the shops haven’t opened, I thought the balloons being hung outside were making it too easy for the players to find. While going around inspecting the place I had to be careful if the team is in sight because I might be giving away the clue to them.
When the players finished, I only met a few criticisms. The players didn’t know how to scramble the numbers in order, but they knew from the numbers that it was one of our phone numbers. Another criticism was that two of the clues were quite too similar. I thought that the clues in the camera would’ve helped them a bit more.



Who would the game appeal to? It would have to be for an older audience possibly 15 + the clues were quite complicated as were the locations and code. Any gender and any race, no bar wealth wise.

Was it too hard? Or easy? Why? I found it quite challenging but extremely fun, it really got the mind thinking, it was like a word scramble.

Was it physically or mentally challenging? Definitely mentally challenging, you’re getting clues from two different objects – a notebook and camera, and you have to look at both to know where you are going, and even then that’s not the end because once you get all the numbers you have to put those in the right order.

Does it have a steep learning curve? Quite, you have to be familiar with Melbourne central, you had to think like a child given the notebook clues, the photos help but even then you’d have to notice the stamps at the bottom of the notebook to come anywhere near getting the right phone number.

Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skill etc? Definitely, but once you know how the code works it becomes far more simpler.

Rules
Are they clear, comprehensible, logical? There weren’t really any rules, just what our boundaries were and ‘find the balloons with numbers on them using this notebook and camera and then try to unscramble it and call the person before the time runs out.’ There were no restrictions, nothing that said we couldn’t cheat.

Are they easy to remember and follow? Yes

Are there enough or too many? I think they covered the bases, we just had to know where we could go and couldn’t.

Do they get in the way of playing the game? No, they significantly helped us.

Magic circle
Is a sense of the scope of the game established? Yes, but playing the game made us realize just how big that was.

Is it over an appropriate area? Yes, though one of the clues sent us right up to the top after we had just been on one or two levels the entire game.

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate? A cute notebook which we had to decipher to find out where to go. And a camera where abstract photos were taken not of the actual place we had to go, which was clever. Oh and balloons.

Do such items fit in with the theme of the game? There was a background story told to us at the beginning which explained why we had to find the balloons which really connected everything. I thought everything fit well into the game, it was set up by ‘a little girl’ and the notebook and such reflected that.

Do they extend the experience or potential of the game? Yes.

Goals
Do you know what the goal of the game is? Yes it was made clear at the beginning that we had to find this woman’s phone number unscramble it and call her.

Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal? Yes, find all the numbers using the photographs and notebook, then mysteriously piece it together.

Do the goals seem meaniful? If Eyal wants his date, yes.

Duration
Did it take too long? It took us ages to decipher the clues and find our locations, we did a lot of pointless running back and forth. I would have liked more than an hour to find everything, but we did manage to make it with 5 minutes to spare, so I think the game went swimmingly.

What was the experience like? I absolutely loved every minute of it. It was complicated but not so much that you don’t want to keep playing. The group all worked together and we ran about hastily. A great experience.

Gameplay
Was it fun? And why/not? Very fun. If it weren’t for one team member pointing out the stamps I don’t think we would have got it, but it was a great game, well thought out and implemented.

Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to? Yes I think so. Anyone up for a challenge, who likes to think on their feet.

What could have been improved? Nothing I can really think of, easier clues maybe lol. No I thought everything was quite good.

What really worked about it? The use of photographs and the notebook, having to use them both to find out where the balloons were, was genius.

Overall an extremely well thought out game, I particularly enjoyed the use of the coded stamps, I thought that was a clever twist. Having the photos not pointing at the position of your target balloon was also clever. Enjoyed thoroughly would definitely play again.



Alice In Capitaland
Who would the game appeal to?
Much older audiences would like this game as it requires logic and patience I believe.

Was it too hard?
I believe the clues were very brief, and therefore hard to interpret.

Rules?
The rules are simple to understand although the game was hard to complete.

Magic Circle
The game area was played in an appropriate area, with the clues hidden in smart areas. Much preparation would have been used for this.
The only extra required material needed is a pen and probably paper to work out answers

Goals
The goal of the game was very simple, find the numbers to a phone number and match them with the clues to order them.

Duration
The time given was not really enough I believe, seeing as though the clues were hard to decipher.

Game experience
The game experience was mixed, as it required brains and sort of an alternate thinking idea to figure out some of the clues

Was It Fun?
Not really. The clues were to hard and the game was explained pretty briefly considering the complicated clues

What could have been improved?
The clues! If the clues were more simpler, I believe the game more be easier and more fun. The general idea is very good and so is the story with it, but the only thing that needs to be changed is the rules, or perhaps the time duration given also.

What worked about it?
The story and the idea worked well with the gameplay, and is pretty well structured.



The age group is older group because f the difficulty
It was to hard for us but I don’t think it was explained correctly
Quit mentally challenging
The learning curb was quit steep
I don’t think people would go back and play it again

Rules
Were not explained correctly to us
Once you know what’s going on you can follow them quit easily
There are enough rules
They work well with the game they were very well thought out

Magic circle
The area is fantastic and works well
Everything needed is supplied

Goals
Yes and know to find the balloons but for what reason
I believed they did but again this game was not correctly explained to us
They do seem meaningful

Duration
It did for our team we had to give up

Game play
The experience was good.
It was fun because it was so well thought out
Know one would play it if they did not have to
Just should have been explained better
Nothing for our group.




Who would the game appeal to?
Little children of either gender would enjoy this game due to its treasure hunt resemblance. Teenagers would appreciate the story at the beginning of the game and might also enjoy the challenge of deciphering the clues.

Was it too hard or easy? Why?
It wasn’t too hard because there was a backup if you couldn’t figure out what the clues in the diary were. A few of the clues seemed to double to be a red herring but either way all the balloons were found.
Some of the balloons were too easy as they were within visible range of one another.

Was it physically or mentally challenging?
The game was a bit of both. Mentally challenging due to the clues you have to figure out and physically because you have to traipse all over Melbourne Central to get the balloons.

Does it have a steep learning curve?
Nope. So long as you can figure out clues or remember where you saw a certain part of the photos provided you are guaranteed to find the balloons.

Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skills?
You couldn’t really improve your skills in this game since its all clue solving.

Rules

Are they clear, comprehensible, logical?
Yes, although the rules mainly dealt with not exchanging locations with other teams.

Are they easy to remember and follow?
Yes.

Are there enough or too many?
Enough to get you by, as I said earlier it was mainly just to control the game so people didn’t cheat.

Do they get in the way of playing the game?
Nope, helps keep it a clean game and increasing the speed at which players will try to find the clues first.

Magic Circle

Is a sense of the scope of the game established?
Yes, we knew in advance it would be limited to Melbourne Central.

Is it over an appropriate area?
Yes, it’s good cause it was just the one building but it covered the various levels within it.

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate?
At first it seemed unnecessary to have a camera, but as the clues in the diary were a bit too cryptic, the camera helped us to figure out where the balloons were.

Do such items fit in the theme of the game?
The camera didn’t really fit in but the story at the start allowed for it to be integrated.

Do they extend the experience or potential of the game?
The camera just made the game easier, without it the game would have been longer and involve more guesswork.

Goals

Do you know what the goal of the game is?
Yes, the goal was explained at the very start of the game.

Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal?
Yes, to get the number we need to find the balloons. Therefore we need to solve the clues within the diary with the help of the camera to find the balloons.

Do the goals seem meaningful?
Well… the game is more of a ‘Please help me, you’ll get a reward’ kind of game.

Duration

Did it take too long?
Since we had trouble we nearly ran out of time to figure out what the phone number was as well as the red herring that threw us off a bit. Some of the clues we weren’t sure matched up to where we found the balloon so the phone number came out wrong.

Game Play

What was the experience like?
It was all right, the photos really made you wonder how well you knew Melbourne Central.

Was it fun? Why/not?
It was a bit fun but it was mainly just ‘what’s the clue, where is it and find the next one’

Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?
Not in our age group, unless the story was true and the number really was for a hot chick =3

What could have been improved?
Making sure the balloons weren’t within seeing distance from one another. It could have been as simple as putting one behind a pillar as opposed to just on opposite walls.

What really worked about it?
The camera really made it fun because it made you remember just where you saw the image. I liked it cause it was like a memory game.



The second we played was a lot more fun. Also it was past 10 and I had gotten my caffeine intake for the day. So a better review for them: D. (HAH) the game was a bit hard to get into at the start but it made sense. The design was exceptionally brilliant for a game on its scale. Maybe a bit too over engineered. The game starts of as clues on balloons from a journal from a camera. Which makes use of everything the team was given to make its game. I really can’t comment much on the bad stuff about the game because there was lack of it. The only comment I could give on it is that the game was a tad complicated to get into a better briefing on the game would’ve helped. A human touch to the game is always more nicer than receiving a paper with the rules .the game itself took the allotted time needed and we actually spent more time sorting the clues out than the actual game .I think if the documentation was more thorough and the teams were given a sheet to take down the clues as they found them it would’ve helped a lot more and helped in finishing g the game a lot more quicker and with more excitement left in it. But it was still an enjoyable experience

Survey Sheet review
Game Review
Alice in Capitaland

Who would the game appeal to?
Anyone with a sense of humour

Was it too hard or easy? Why?
It was easy enough to play

Was it physically or mentally challenging?
The clues were easy just annoying to sort out

Does it have a steep learning curve?
A bit of a learning for a game but easy to figure out once you figure few clues out

Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skills?
The game would need to be different with different clues to make it challenging enough for people to want to come back and play it again

Rules

Are they clear, comprehensible, logical?
Yes

Are they easy to remember and follow?
No
.
Are there enough or too many?
No rules but more on the lines of difficult to remember without a proper briefing

Do they get in the way of playing the game?
No

Magic Circle

Is a sense of the scope of the game established?
Yes. Very early on in the game

Is it over an appropriate area?
Yes

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate?
Yes, the Journal

Do such items fit in the theme of the game?
Yes

Do they extend the experience or potential of the game?
Yes but its all dependent on the clues

Goals

Do you know what the goal of the game is?
Yes

Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal?
Yes

Do the goals seem meaningful?
Yes

Duration

Did it take too long?
Sorting out the clues did take some time

Game Play

What was the experience like?
Enjoyable and frustrating at the same time

Was it fun? Why/not?
It Fun getting the clues. Wasn’t fun trying to sort them out

Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?
People would play this game

What could have been improved?
The documentation/Rules could’ve been more easily explained

What really worked about it?
It was an interesting story for a game that made people want to finish it.



Who would the game appeal to? (age groups, demographics)
Late teens to adult. Would have to be played in groups.

Was it too hard? Or Easy? Why?
It was on a good side of difficult the clues were hard but not to hard and very good.

Was it physically or mentally challenging?
Both very physically and mentally challenging. The clues were a big brain teaser.

Does it have a steep learning curve?
Somewhat, as in it was really hard to find out the clues and the photos.

Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skill etc?
Yes, but it would have to be different clue and areas.


Rules
Are they clear, comprehensible, logical?
Yes and very appropriote.

Are they easy to remember and follow?
yes.

Are there enough or too many?
Just the right amount

Do they get in the way of playing the game?
Not at all it was very well balanced.


Magic Circle
Is a sense of the scope of the game established?
Yes.

Is it over an appropriate area?
Yes, melb central was a great arena for the game.

Is any special paraphernalia needed for it appropriate?
Just the camera, note pad, and diary.

Do such items fit in with the theme of the game?
Yes they are a must.

Do they extend the experience or potential of the game?
Yes very much so.

Goals
Do you know what the goal of the game is?
Yep, figure out the clues and call the number.

Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal?
Yes. But running around solving clues cant really go wrong.

Do the goals seem meaningful?
Yes, figuring out the clues so u can find the number and call it.

Duration
Did it take too long?
Nope. 5 minutes to go.

What was the experience like?
Very good. Easily my favourite game.

Gameplay.

Was it fun? And why/not?
It was heaps of fun because it was challenging and fun.

Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?
Yes. I would.

What could have been improved?
Nothing, I thought it was done very well.

What really worked about it?
Everything. The camera used with the diary was really good and the stamps in the diary were great.


This was a lot of fun! I was not expecting anyone to do a cryptic or puzzle game like this for their live game. I arrived just a little late for the start of the game but already found my team mates enthusiastically engaged in the challenge. At first I was put off by the rather juvenile introduction to the game provided on the guide sheet. Girls phone numbers and poor taste references to big tits. This does not serve well in my opinion to provide motivation for solving the puzzle. However this quickly fell away as the humor of the games story became apparent. The character is perhaps supposed to be a moron The characters portrayed in the set up story is well realized in the challenge through the use of a Childs diary. Clues to a telephone number are ‘encoded’ within the diary and on balloons distributed throughout the play location. The diary is cutely drawn in childish script with colorful pens and contains a sequencer code marked on each page in small stamps. The story and clues are cleverly written to appear as those produced by a little girl and they are cryptic enough to be only marginally useful in determining location of the balloons. In short the story works well to establish the game play and the design document is clear and concise in defining the bounds of the puzzle.




Assessment considerations
Who would the game appeal to?: The game is a puzzle and requires a certain maturity and willingness to engage the challenge presented. It would be ill suited to adolescents or children or those with a preference for fast paced action games.
Was it too hard? Or Easy? Why?: The game appeared hard but we managed to complete and decode it within time so I would have to say the game was just about right.
Was it Physically or mentally challenging?: I was pleasantly surprised with the ingenuity of the puzzle. Taking into account the deductive reasoning required the resources that one has to bring to bare to solve the challenge and the physical leg work required I would have to say it is both physically and mentally challenging.
Does it have a steep learning curve?: yes. But all cryptic challenges start out with mysteries that require the user to solve, to soften the learning curve would reduce the fun of the challenge.
Would it be a game people came back to play again to improve their skill etc?: Yes puzzles of this type would be lots of fun to play again. The basic model of digital photos revealing locations. The diary and the balloons seems quite robust and would reinterpreted into another challenge well. Subsequent challenges could be even more cryptic to keep players interested.
Rules.
Are they clear, comprehensible, logical?: Yes the guide established enough to make the games intention understandable.
Are they easy to remember and follow?: Yes I could probably set up a new game from memory.
Are there enough or too many?: There seem to be enough. Though some refinement of the language of the first sheet would be best.
Do they get in the way of playing the game?: No technically there are no rules of play for a puzzle game. Instead the player is supposed to figure out the pattern on their own.

Magic Circle
Is a sense of the scope of the game established?: Yes the setup for the game is very cleverly explained. Rather than just stating that this is a puzzle the game even uses a story to enhance game play.
Is it over an appropriate area?: Melbourne central fitted the game well and made for an engaging environment to hunt in. In particular it provides a rich and yet suitably repetitive field for the use of the camera shots. Photos used to define locations can not be ambiguously interpreted once you have found the location in question but they are general enough to make finding that location difficult from the photograph alone. Some locations such as RMIT would make this a little harder to achieve as one hallway looks much like another in a photograph. Commercial areas are so cluttered with visual information that one can photograph an element that someone may have walked past several times, but cannot remember the location of.
Is any special Paraphernalia needed for it? Is it appropriate?: A camera or series of photographs of defined locations.. a series of balloons at those locations and a specially authored diary. All elements work well in concert to produce the chase of the game.
Do such items fit in with the Theme of the Game?: yes the story is written to explain their circumstances quite well.
Do they extend the experience or potential of the Game?: Definitely. The use of a digital camera made for an intriguing experience. It was most refreshing to turn the process of photography around and use the camera not as an implement of capture but as an navigational tool. this digital trail of bread crumbs was refreshingly entertaining and each set of pictures was well considered by the photographer for the clues it would reveal.

Goals
Do you know what the goal of the game is?: Yes solve the puzzle and get the phone number.
Do the game actions make sense in relation to the goal?: They do. But they are cryptic without the supporting story the elements of the game would probably seem surreal.
Do the goals seem meaningful?: Well in so far as solving a puzzle is fun and the story gives a somewhat puerile but humorous excuse for finding the phone number, yes.

Gameplay
Did it take to long?: No surprisingly we managed to complete the puzzle right on time. This either reflects good game play or blind luck.. but probably a bit of both.. the game doesn’t have a defined period of play and technically each group would complete it at their own pace, depending on their familiarity with the location of play. The rate at which they came to grips with the puzzle and their actual ground speed in searching for clues. I imagine a clever and well organized group familiar with the location could complete the game in under 20 minutes. But other groups might grapple with it all day and still not solve the puzzle. It relies on a certain amount of inspiration, which is a random element.
What was the experience like?: Engaging, and exhilarating after my initial doubt I found myself excited by each balloon we found.
Was it fun? And why?: It was! There is a satisfying thrill to unlocking a mystery.. coupled with the physical exertion of running to a location to find a clue and working as a team to find/decode the sequence it made for a rousing game.
Would anyone play it if they weren’t being forced to?: I definitely think so. The game is fun as an experience alone.
What could have been improved?: The introduction to the story could be written a little better but the rest of the game was well crafted and I can not think of anything important that requires a change. Perhaps another layer of encryption would enhance the game.
What really worked about it?: The flow. Each element of the game worked well together to culminate in a phone number that when we dialed it actually connected.. this was a nice touch and alone was enough reward to justify the effort of play.