Before launching our formal research process, our team began by directly engaging with the physical version of The Muslim Party Game. We played multiple rounds of the tabletop game to understand its pacing, mechanics, social dynamics, and educational tone. This allowed us to build a foundational understanding of the game and its crucial elements.
The game's strength lies in its high engagement, cultural storytelling, and teamwork.
Each round adds layers of familiarity, creating memorability and reinforcement of cultural knowledge.
Its simplicity and group-based play structure make it easy to pick up and naturally suited for a variety of social settings.
After communicating with our client, we aligned our primary & secondary stakeholders, and determined our main research goals.
The main audience for the digital game is the Muslim community, in hopes that they could enjoy playing the game in social contexts with content that is relevant to their values and culture.
The secondary audience for the digital game are users who might not exactly be a part of the Muslim community, but want to learn more about the culture in a respectful manner.
Data was collected through Google Forms surveys to understand user preferences for tabletop versus digital games, focusing on social interaction and engagement features.
Key Findings: Users preferred simple, fast-paced games that encourage face-to-face interactions.
Interviews were conducted with users who were familiar with the physical version of the game with different activities (card sorting, educational vs. party game study, think-aloud protocols)
Key Findings: Participants emphasized the importance of fun, inclusivity, and cultural relatability, they concerned about losing social "vibe" in digital play.
Interviews were conducted with experts Erik Harpstead and Jessica Hammer, 2 renowned and educated experts in the game design field at Carnegie Mellon.
Key Findings: The importance of maintaining the "social layer," offering flexible game formats, easy enter & exit methods, and embedding cultural content without making it feel overly educational.
Visits were made to two local stores that sell the physical game (Games Unlimited, Phantom of the Attic)
Key Findings: Players are more drawn to games that support varied play styles, group sizes, and replayability over multiple sessions.
A comprehensive review of literature on analog versus digital play, hybrid game design, and cultural learning through games.
Key Findings: Digital platforms can diminish social interaction and cognitive engagement unless intentionally designed to preserve these aspects.
A SWOT analysis of five prominent digital party games (e.g., Jackbox, Monikers).
Key Findings:Critical success factors include replayability, customization, streamlined onboarding, and mechanics that promote team collaboration.
Our team decided to use the Crazy 8s method for the design process and brainstorming because it allowed us to rapidly create a wide range of ideas in a short amount of time. In this process, we were able to clearly identify what features, user interactions, and visual styles were needed in the game and how to translate the original physical game into an engaging digital experience.
We created a moodboard to capture the playful, colorful, and energetic design of *The Muslim Party Game*. It focused on bold colors, friendly character designs, and intuitive layouts, highlighting key game features like category sorting, card designs, and scoreboards. This process helped refine crucial features and guided our competitive analysis of similar games.
All players get to review the card contents
1 player describes the card word, team guesses
Next team goes
1 player uses 1 word to describe the card word, team guesses
Next team goes
1 player acts out the card word, team guesses
Next team goes
Changes Made
Break down the rules for the onboarding into more digestible screens
Incorporate more details of the game modes
Make sure the card contents make sense for the general muslim culture
Changes Made
Font and aesthetic changes
Changes Made
Horizontal scoreboard design
Combine swipe and tap features
Place the timer at the top
Confusion about swiping cards in Flow 1
Moved towards Flow 2 with buttons instead of swiping
Information overload and confusion with onboarding
Simplified the onboarding by breaking it into smaller, digestible steps.
Low scoreboard and timer visibility
Created a visible layout for scores & the timer was placed at the top center
Sneak Peek Phase presentation was too complex
Clarified the instructions, providing a countdown timer for each player, and ensuring players only saw a few cards at a time
Gameplay roles were unclear due to device set-up (one device, pass around)
Provided clear on-screen prompts to guide players, directing them on who should hold the device next and what roles were during each round.
Unfamiliarity with cultural references on cards, making it harder to engage with the game (mainly secondary users)
Adding visual representations of the countries of origin, making it more accessible and culturally relevant
Round 2 sometimes was either too easy or too hard based on the word and the familiarity with the content
Break onboarding into steps
*Hi-Fi feedback mainly revolved around the gameplay and the foundations of the game. As the client tests and updates not only the design and accessibility but also the game mechanics more, they will implement our test findings into the final version!
