Big Surf was a fun bagatelle to build – in particular, I really had to think outside the box in order to determine how to design the pin “waves” the ball could ramp off of in a way that was fun and feasible.
Playtest Feedback
Theme
Many playtesters liked my theme and color scheme. One of the big challenges I faced besides making the “waves” was how to best represent the theme and finding materials that would go with it. Luckily, I was able to find some pins that came in different colors that matched the style and they ended up working well for gameplay too. Based on this, I will continue to put effort into theming my future designs.
Implementation of Features
Overall, the implementation of my features and point system seemed to work well. I got a suggestion to use paper and hot glue for the ramps instead of pins so it would be smoother and more wave-like.
Originally, it wasn’t my intention to have a tunnel (referred to as “the cove”), but I felt it provided an interesting challenge when I was testing it on my own, so I kept it and added a scoring area for it. A lot of people liked it based on the feedback I received, though it was very difficult to use because the top of the tunnel lifted above the playfield and the ball would get stuck on it.
Playability
Besides the tunnel sticking out above the playfield, the rest of the machine is easily navigable and players can get to all of the areas I designated for points. There are places that are easier to get to than others, which was my intention and it worked well from what I observed.
What I Would do Differently
I would have liked to refine the style of the board a bit more and work on a better solution for the “waves” that more so matched my concept. Overall, I feel like this was a very successful playtest and the feedback I received was quite positive and constructive.
Assets
All of the features on the board were done with generic materials I purchased from Barnes and Noble. I drew the surfboards using clipart from Google Images as references, but I didn’t print out any graphics or copy the exact designs from the clipart.