Horn

Last week I was contacted about the unique opportunity to be a play tester for a new game coming out.  I immediately said I was interested and set up a time to go try out the game. So yesterday, dressed in my finest Yoshi t-shirt, I venture over to Phosphor Games in the West Loop to test out a build of their upcoming game Horn.

IGN Horn article

While I can't say much about the game due to my non-disclosure agreement, I can tell you a bit about my experience there.  I have never visited any type of game studio before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  The interior of the studio was a mix of stainless steel and wood beams.  Aside from a few skylights the main source of light was the soft glow of many computer monitors.  Upon arrival I was given a tour of the studio.  The walls were adorned with various game characters such as Megaman and Mario, as well as stills from their own games. They have a game room containing a ping pong table as well as an air hockey table and a kitchen well stocked with various snacks and sodas. Overall the atmosphere was very fun, and looked like a great place to work.

Screen shot from Horn

 I had a little bit of time to kill before they were ready for me to play the game, so played a bit of ping pong with one of the programmers.  Thank god my gaming skills are slightly better than my ping pong skills. After about 15 minutes of this they were ready for me.  In true gamer fashion I was offered my choice of chips, soda, and old pizza before I got started.  I selected some Cool Ranch Doritos and a Pepsi (no Coke, shame shame) and headed to the room where I would be playing the game.  I entered a small room that contained a couch (complete with pillow and blanket), two chairs and a small table.  I was handed an iPad loaded with the build of the game I would be testing and set to work making my way through it.  The entire time I played there was someone sitting right beside me taking notes on my every move.  Now I don't really perform well under pressure so this was a bit jarring at first, but after a little of game play and figuring out the mechanics I began to relax.  Three hours later I emerged from the room a victor.  I had defeated every foe I could find and thoroughly explored everything.  I was given a short survey to fill out about the game and was then free to make the trek home.  I can definitely say my first experience as a play tester was a good one and I hope many more opportunities like this come my way in the future.