Greetings Researchers & Readers:

I'm getting ready to launch a website called MyAdventureGame.com and
was hoping to get some feedback.  This is a $4 question so I'm not
expecting a whole lot -- but I would like to see the researcher do
three things:

(1) Play a game by clicking on PLAY A GAME, and then click on the
category (there are games directly on the front page, but I'd like to
see some feedback on the select-a-game interface).  Please comment on
the game playing experience and usability of the game player.

(2) create an account and try to make an "advanced*" game.  Note the
key word is "try" so if you're unable to figure out how exactly to do
it, that's fine -- but please explain why and what you didn't
understand. *to make an "advanced" game, make sure to select MORE
OPTIONS when creating a new game.  Your game doesn't have to have any
real content, perhaps a few pages, a few links, maybe an object and a
picture, if you can figure out how.  Please comment on this
experience.

(3) Please tell me your:
  -gender
  -age group(Under 18, 18-24, 25-31, 32-38, 39-45, over 45) 
  -your experience with Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-Books (never heard
of, heard of but never read, read (past tense) occasionally, read
(past tense) frequently).

I'm very interested in hearing what you think about the site as far as
the playing and game making interface.  There is deliberately no help
section, I'm hoping the site is self-explanatory.

And of course, comments about anything pertaining to the site are
GREATLY appreciated.  However, if you have a comment about a
particular game, please leave the comment directly on that game (as
the game's author would love to see it).

Also, is $4 enough for this "question" -- it doesn't really involve
research but more playing around with a website for a few minutes --
and is this appropriate for me to post here?

Thanks!
Alex
alexp@halogenstudios.com

Hi! Thanks for this fun assignment. I played and read Choose Your Own
adventure books when I was nine.

I played the game Jurassic Fairview Park and Fairview high School
game.

I think the game really extends the Choose Your Own Adventure game.
The promise I see in this is that you could have a real long game and
no limit to the possibilities unlike in the book.

The problem I have with this game is that it is somewhat too sarcastic
specially if you made a wrong choice. You must be very careful in
rating games so that parents can guard their children when playing.

In the create my Account Page I don’t like being asked for my name.
But I do like the ability to create your original choose your own
adventure game. I think creating the game and the account was pretty
straightforward and relatively easy. However; I cannot figure out how
to get pictures. Is it something I have to provide on my own like an
email attachment?

I suggest that you inform your audience in advance to prepare the game
in including the choices so they won't run out of ideas or tire out of
the whole process whenever they want to create their own games.

I am a male. My age group is 32-38 and just like what I said above I
have read some Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Sugestions: Add a message board for members. 

One more thing. Please provide a help section. You would not want to
discriminate on your clients who are playing this type of game for the
very first time.

Good Luck on the website. And thanks for the game.

Regards,
Easterangel-ga

Thanks esterangel -- that was exactly what I was looking for.  

We are currently working on developing a message board and help
system.  There actually is a game rating system (for difficulty and
maturity level), but aparantly it isn't to visible - that will
definately need to be fixed!

I noticed the rating system, but with just a number and no obvious
explanation of the scale you're using, it's hard to tell what it means
until it's too late.  I'm not really big on the interface.  It's very
spartan; I'd like to see something prettier.  Customized buttons or
links instead of the gray buttons would be a nice touch.  Also, the
games I tried had choices that were written so poorly that I had
difficulty understanding what they meant.  If users are creating their
own games and sharing them, this is to be expected, but I expect
better of writers providing core content for a site.  I loved the
choose-your-own adventure books when I was a kid, and I used to read
them over and over again to get all the possible endings.  I think
this site is an excellent idea, but the content could use some work.

your game sucks! it's poorly written, hard to navigate, and held my
attention for all of about 30 seconds.
you wanted honest, you got it, from joe schmoe average internet guy.