I was showing my game to some people and there was a 9 years old girl who demanded playing it so I decided to just go ahead and let her play until she got tired and see what would happen (not like it'd help me much since the game is practically finished anyway). Quick reminder, the game in question doesn't have any tutorial of any sort, it just throws you in straight into the first level (and hopes the level design makes up for it).

Skill: gonna be blunt, she didn't seem even remotely accustomed at platformers at all, at least traditional ones (maybe endless runners on mobile?), at the beginning she didn't even dare to move left (!?), and that lasted much longer than I could have ever expected. She improved rather quickly though, by the time she reached the first checkpoint she had a rather rough control of Sol (still reacting somewhat slowly, but obviously enough to get that far). By the end she had even figured out that crouching can help dodge some attacks, and that one of the power-ups is used to break some floors and allows access to some rooms with items.

Frustration: she didn't take very long to complain that it was very hard =P It still didn't stop her and she got to the first proper checkpoint some minutes later. I swear I keep getting this reaction from people, they complain like it was impossible then they make some serious progress some minutes later anyway (rather than just giving up). Having infinite lives probably helps though (but you still only respawn at checkpoints).

Controls: she figured out the basic controls in like a couple of seconds =P When she found a power-up the first thing she tried was press ? (this crouches), then press ? (this makes Sol looks up). She got it right in the third try (double jumping). Again, she didn't seem to even consider the possibility of other keys... like basically everybody else who tried the game except for one guy (quick conclusion: players won't bother trying more than beyond the original control set, at least unless you tell them otherwise)

Miscellaneous: when she found a breakable platform and she missed it (she overshot the jump and kept running after landing) she realized that the platform would most likely respawn and waited for it. Huh.

Also for posterity, when she left the computer the game was in this state:

That wait animation was so worth it XD

EDIT:

Addenum: girl took over the computer again and spent like a whole hour playing the game o.O; (and got to level four now, albeit not without cursing a lot at me first =P) I don't think I need to say more at this point...

Having non-gamer play your game are always so worthwile. They can point out the things you would never think about because : "Well, isn't that obvious?"

Even if this may be a little off-subject, I'm posting a video about the design of the first level of super mario. Which is really well designed and also without a tutorial, relying only on the level design to teach player how to play.

...make it three times she took over to play Sol. Did I pass some kind of retention test or something?

Didn't want to move left, as in never hit the move left key, or never tried to scroll the character leftwards very far, to go back screens?

at the beginning she didn't even dare to move left (!?)

Even if this may be a little off-subject, I'm posting a video about the design of the first level of super mario. Which is really well designed and also without a tutorial, relying only on the level design to teach player how to play.

I just read an article that talked about moving left to right in games, and it had that same Super Mario 1-1 video linked in it.

http://www.geek.com/games/video-games-scroll-left-to-right-because-it-makes-more-sense-to-our-brains-1618255/

Sounds like a good play session. It's great seeing a kid having such a fun time with your own game. The first time I mentioned making a game to my friends kid, he just dismissed it and went on with his minecraft or whatever. I don't think he really heard what we were saying, cause later that day (or was it a different day?) he was really excited to play it.

Didn't want to move left, as in never hit the move left key, or never tried to scroll the character leftwards very far, to go back screens?

Literally refused to press the run left key (and it's not that she didn't know either, given it's the left arrow key and she had been running right for a while...).

Didn't want to move left, as in never hit the move left key, or never tried to scroll the character leftwards very far, to go back screens?

Literally refused to press the run left key (and it's not that she didn't know either, given it's the left arrow key and she had been running right for a while...).

Huh, that's crazy to me, but I guess Runner games are big these days, and probably exerting an influence. You could add an L shape somewhere above the player, with a powerup inside the L, forcing the player to jump left to get up inside the L and grab the powerup. Basically teaching them they could and should turn left occasionally =)

Huh, that's crazy to me, but I guess Runner games are big these days, and probably exerting an influence. You could add an L shape somewhere above the player, with a powerup inside the L, forcing the player to jump left to get up inside the L and grab the powerup. Basically teaching them they could and should turn left occasionally =)

Maybe a 1-UP to the left right at the start of the first level? Before any idea of only running to the right can settle in. Plus, encouraging jumping/running to the left with things like that L in your level designs.

1-ups wouldn't fit in Sol though because it has infinite lives =P (incidentally, this created another pattern where if you reach a checkpoint with just one heart left, it's better to lose immediately so your health refills - this nukes your score for the level, though)

Also the girl by this point has taken over the computer to play Sol so many times I stopped keeping track of it. Also the average session seems to be around one hour, if anybody cares.

Also the girl by this point has taken over the computer to play Sol so many times I stopped keeping track of it. Also the average session seems to be around one hour, if anybody cares.

What would happen if you charged a nominal fee for 1 hour of play?

Sol looks good!!!

Do you have a Windows release date ETA?

Is it going to be commercial or free?