Week 13: Flame Keeper User Testing

This week I had my sibling try Flame Keeper without any explanation. The project is a browser-based game controlled by an Arduino: a potentiometer steers a cursor into a moving sweet spot to heal a digital candle flame, and a button shields the flame during wind gusts.

Demo

What I Observed

My sibling picked up the button quickly once a gust appeared and the screen said “GUST! HOLD BUTTON!” The text made the action obvious. The potentiometer was more confusing. My sibling turned it but did not immediately connect the movement of the on-screen cursor to the knob in their hand. It took a few seconds before the mapping clicked.

My sibling did not understand the sweet spot bar without being told. They could see a green zone and a moving dot, but did not know the goal was to keep the dot inside the green zone. Once that was explained, gameplay became intuitive immediately.

What Worked

The gust warning text and the shield effect gave instant visual feedback. My sibling felt the button had a clear purpose. The HP bar draining created genuine urgency, and the candle flame shrinking alongside it reinforced that something was wrong without any text needed.

What Needs Improvement

The sweet spot bar needs a short label or tooltip on first load that explains what it is. A simple line like “keep the dot in the green zone” on screen at the start would remove the confusion entirely. I also felt the need to explain the potentiometer every single time, which means the physical-to-visual mapping is not clear enough. A brief intro screen before the game starts would solve both issues.

Next Steps

I will add a short start screen that shows the two controls and what they do before the game begins. That way the project can speak for itself without me standing next to it.