Testers did better on the second version, so was it better or just practice?

When the same people play version A and then version B, they improve simply from having played. Mixing the order across testers and then correcting for it separates the effect of your change from the effect of practice.

Why this works

People improve with practice, so whatever they play second looks better. Letting half of them go in each order makes practice work for both versions alike, and what remains after balancing is the part that comes from the change itself.

When not to use it

Skip it when playing one version teaches the secret of the other, such as a puzzle whose answer is now known, or when you can easily find fresh testers for each version. Use separate groups of people then.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 21 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Testers did better on the second version, so was it better or just practice?" (read_entry version-test-order-effect-correction) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP