Playboarding is a type of storyboarding, but it is used to describe how certain mechanics in a game will work or play. There are two main types of playboards that can be drawn out - multi-panel and single-panel - so I had a go at drawing them for the horror game, Until Dawn. Until Dawn is a multiple choice game with clichés of well-known horror movies included. Because of this, there were a lot of opportunities for creating a multi-panel playboard.
A multi-panel playboards are drawn to plan out a sequence of game-play elements that relate to each other and are too complicated to put into a single-panel playboard. In this panel, I took a part from the game where the player is in a psychiatrist's office, where the psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, is becoming increasingly disturbing with each visit.
I made sure to include the multiple choice options in the menu, and the lines of dialogue said to convey what was happening.
This is the single-panel playboard I created for Until Dawn. It was a lot harder to think of something for a single-panel, as Until Dawn is very complex, and there aren't really any game mechanics that are easy to explain.
I decided to go with the 'Don't move' segments for the game, and chose the final segment, as it gives the clearest goal and threat. The goal is getting out of the building, and keeping the controller completely still. There is an on-screen threat, which can be considered a distraction to the player. The monster comes up close to the camera to try and make the player jump, which would shake the controller. There is also a meter that keeps track of how steady the controller is, and will go red if it's moved.
Overall, playboards are a great way to plan out how a game is going to look before it's even created. It's a lot like pseudo coding, as it's a way to check for mistakes before production has even started. If I were to put this into the synoptic project game, I would create a single-panel of the way to stealth through the levels. For a multi-panel I could go into the battle system, as there will be different controls than the rest of the game.