Story and pacing
A tax policy looks like it helps cities survive, but is it really better?
Players with strong cities may pick one option more often, which makes it look like the cause of their success. This entry shows how to compare the choices fairly inside groups of similar cities, and why the plain totals can point the wrong way.
Do players finish the campaign tasks in the order the story expects?
When tasks can be done in any order, the story told around them can contradict itself. This entry shows how to measure how often players go out of order, how to treat tasks they skipped, and what share should make you rewrite the text.
Which buildings do players tear down right after placing them?
A building removed within seconds was usually a misclick or not what the player expected. That tells you which pieces are confusing. But disasters also remove buildings, and those must not be blamed on the player. This entry shows how to count it fairly.
Which decisions do players take back by loading an earlier save?
A reload right after a choice is a quiet vote that the choice felt wrong, unfair or unclear. This entry shows how to link each reload to the decision it undid, so the regret rate per decision is not blurred by several loads in a row.
When players replay a campaign, do they really try the other answers?
A second playthrough is the best test of whether your choices are worth making. But with three options even random picking changes the answer most of the time. This entry shows how to separate real exploring from that background.
Do players who come back after days away need a reminder of what they were doing?
A long campaign is played in pieces. If the first move after a break takes much longer than usual, the player is lost. This entry shows how to measure the delay by length of the break and where a recap pays off.
Which of the offered reward cards do players pick, compared with pure chance?
When each reward round shows only a few options out of many, the plain count of picks mostly reflects how often each option was shown. This entry shows how to compare the picks to what chance would give and find the options nobody wants.
How many sittings does it take players to finish a long campaign?
Raw event logs have no sessions in them, only moments. This entry shows how to cut them into sittings, how to treat a lone event, and what total play time and sitting count tell you about the real length of the campaign.
Do players push a tax or speed slider all the way to one end?
A slider that most players leave at its minimum or maximum has a range that is wrong, or a setting that is not a real choice. This entry shows how to count how many sit at the edges or at the starting position, with a tolerance that fits any scale.
One start position wins more often: is the spot strong or do better players pick it?
If players choose their start, the winning spot may only reflect who chooses it. This entry shows which games to use to judge the map itself, and how to measure how much self-selection inflates the numbers.
How much of what players produce is thrown away because the storage is full?
A full warehouse silently eats production. Players do not see a number for it, they just feel that progress is slow. This entry shows how to count the loss per resource and why the order of spending and producing within a tick changes the answer.
How long does the game run without anything story-worthy happening?
A strategy game with a long-running clock can go for ages without a single event or message to mark progress. This entry shows how to find the quiet stretches on the game's own calendar rather than on the player's watch, and not to forget the ends.