Week 12 · Thursday: Computational Thinking (Code Crew G3)

Thursday: Playtest & Debug

The crew plays the game for the first time. Rocket lands on a square that sends him back to the start. Then it happens again and again!

Rocket laughs. "I found a bug!" Raven asks, "How could we change that rule?"

Nova glows. "Let's debug together," she says. Let's playtest your game and fix any bugs.

Find a partner. Play one round on a small piece of paper or in your head.

Note any BUGS in the rules.

Bug 1: _________________________________ Fix: __________________

Bug 2: _________________________________ Fix: __________________

Bug 3: _________________________________ Fix: __________________

Describe a smart strategy in 1 or 2 sentences.

Strategy:

Is there a PATTERN that always wins? Could you make the game more fair?

Add ONE rule that breaks the pattern.

Old pattern that always won: __________________

New rule: ____________________________________

Try Without Paper

Tell your game's rules to a grown-up in 60 seconds.
If they get LOST, your rules need more decomposition.

A playtest is a test run of your game. You watch for bugs, then fix the rules.

Changing a rule and testing again is called iterating.

PLAYTEST PROBLEMS

Nobody ever reaches END. What kind of problem is that?

One player always wins by going first. What could fix it?

You changed a rule. What should you do next?

What does iterate mean?

A rule says roll, then move back that many squares. Which word should change?

Which word should take its place?

Testing your game with a partner is called a ____.

Statement	True or false?
Finding bugs in a playtest is a good thing.	?
A fair game gives every player a chance to win.	?
After one playtest, a game can never change.	?
Iterating means making something better step by step.	?

WHY THIS EXERCISEGame makers test and change their games.

Rocket tests his game 3 times. He fixes 2 bugs each time. How many bugs does he fix?

WHY THIS EXERCISEEvery playtest makes the game a little better.

Try it

Play one round of your game with a grown-up.
Write down every moment someone was confused.
Pick one rule to fix.

What bug did your playtest find? How will you fix it?

A rule says: Roll the die, then move back that many squares. Nobody ever reaches the end. Which word is the bug? ____

WHY THIS EXERCISEPlaytesting finds bugs in rules, just like testing finds bugs in code. One wrong word can break a whole program.