Game, Set, Watch is one of my favorite blogs and this old post mortem is another reason why.
We played our own game. While this may sound simple, it’s very important. Throughout the development process, every person in the company not only play tested, but played AoE with the purpose of having fun. As a result, we were very in tune with why the game was fun, and what people were likely to get out of it. We had 20 guys who were determined not to let the game play be compromised or watered down.
The culture of playtesting was always one of my favorite things about Ensemble. It is pretty much at the top of my list of key things it is vital for every good game developer to embrace.
Needless to say at Robot we are getting that seeded in our culture early… :)