I sent my friend six pages of game feedback when he wanted a quick playtest
Gaming"I needed to know whether the door puzzle worked," my friend said. "Not whether the entire game should exist."
He'd sent me his short game for a club showcase. I played it twice and wrote six pages about controls, pacing, dialogue and the ending. Two paragraphs answered his question about the door. The rest included changes that would take much longer than the four days he has before submission.
I thought a detailed response showed I was taking him seriously. He's overwhelmed and says he wishes he'd asked somebody else. Some comments are useful bugs; others are simply things I would have written differently. I mixed them together under "issues."
What would be the best repair now: offer a short list focused on the door, ask him to ignore the document, or leave him alone until the showcase? I don't want a second helpful message to become more work he didn't request.