Hello everyone! I will be attending a Unity conference this week and my main goal is to get people to try my game and give me feedback. I am wondering if anyone has any advice on what are the best ways to approach others to try it.
It’s on a mobile platform, and I’ll bring several devices, so that they don’t need to wait and download it. If you were at a conference, what would someone need to do that would make you more receptive to trying their game?
Check with the conference organizers first. Most game dev meetups I’ve been to are fine with playtesting. At those ones you simply set up a device and let people play. Its kind of the expectation of what will happen at the event.
If the event isn’t configured for playtesting, I wouldn’t try.
There was a GamaSutra article on this last week, I think, well worth a read for what did/didn’t work.
Mobile games are generally played in places, times or environments not “configured for play” though…
Sure. But I wasn’t referring to the physical space.
It’s more the general expectations of the audience and the culture of the conference. I have no idea what kind of ‘Unity conference’ the OP is attending.
At my local dev meet up, it’s perfectly normal to play test. People are there to socialise and play games. On the other hand at Unite or a Unity Master Class, people are there to learn and network. Trying to coopt the conference into a play testing session would go over poorly.
Have a way for them to see what your game is like without commiting to anything or needing to interact with you. I usually say “no thanks” before I even know what the other person wants from me, when I’m approached by someone, because I just want to be left the fuck alone. You could maybe try having a print out of a representative screenshot with a short sentence about how you’re looking for on-the-spot testers and quick feedback.
I wouldn’t give too much about what they are saying if it’s some generic compliment, because I expect most people to be rather polite in such a setting, even if they don’t like the game. The metric I’d look for (and maybe even write down stats for) is how long they play before they don’t want to continue. If you have multiple devices and have something you want to A/B test, that’s a good setting to A/B test against this metric.
It’s very much dependant on the venue, what you are showing and how you show it. I’ve seen people walk about with an iPad mounted on a backpack at PAX and at GDC I’ve seen guerilla type showcasing at GDC. What are you trying to achieve?
A bit off topic but still along the same lines…HOSPITAL WAITING ROOMS. I know sounds sick but hear me out. Its full of captive bored people. All of them want anything to take their mind off of it. 90% of em already have their phone out playing a game. You can make their day a bit better and get usefull info at the same time, win win. While at our large childrens hospital in my state waiting on surgery i decided to see just how easily random children could play my game. Every parent I asked said yes please anything to shut em up for a second. 3 of the 10 parents asked what the name was so they could buy it. It was not much more than a physics test, no goals, no levels, nothing just a testbed. Get a parent to watch a kid smile at your phone for 3 seconds and you sell a copy right there if its available.
Since you’ve said that… I am now performing a cost benefit analysis of a trip to the ER for market research purposes.
Only kidding. I’m not that desperate 
Emergency Room is bad news…everyone has some virus that the prescribed antibiotics wont help anyway. All snot flyin around and screaming infants. The waiting room I was in was a surgery waiting area at a childrens hospital so everyone had appointments and most had a physical problem not a contagious one. I do recommend going to your areas childrens hospital and making kids smile though. Its extremely easy to do, everyone in the room likes you, and there is no feeling equal to a bald kid in a wheelchair happy because of something you did. Even if you dont plan to do any game dev related stuff just one time go with some little cheap gumball toys or balloons and make kids happy. You will be hooked and spend spare time and money doing it jst because it feels good
If you know someone who is extroverted… loud and doesn’t give a shit about being embarrassed because it’s a foreign concept to them… ask them to come with you, and just get them to announce to the crowd at some appropriate time, that you’ve got a game that can be playtested on x number of devices… definitely make it obvious you’ve got some devices for people to playtest your stuff , idle bystanders will notice others playing and you could probably easily get them involved in trying things out aswel.
Does depend on the event though, still I don’t see how a Unity conference will hard to find gamers interested in play testing something… should be so easy you will wonder why you even made this thread 
Sounds like a win-win to me. The people are looking for a distraction which you can provide, and you’re looking for reactions/feedback which they can provide. As long as the clinic is ok with it I don’t see a problem.
As long as you make it through the metal detector at the door no one ever even asks. I dont know how well it would work at small clinics or county hospitals though it seems they wouldn’t mind a bit of friendliness in the otherwise dismal waiting area. I do know at the large state hospitals here in Arkansas you can walk freely nearly anywhere as long as you don’t look lost and the employees avoid waiting rooms like the plague. I don’t do it as much now but a few years back I spent a fairly large amount of time wandering around hospitals when my wife was ill. She spent the better part of 3 years in a very expensive room. Mostly people look away when they pass you in a hallway especially if your looking directly at them. People in the waiting rooms are happy to talk about almost anything and other than the patients families you talk to no one ever asks why your there. I’ve only tested the game once and it was fairly recently. That happened while waiting with my daughter. Everyone I talked to was receptive, no one told me to just leave them alone. I am pretty good at picking a target though and that may have had something to do with it. All were women with children age 4 to 7 or so. I always approached the parent first and asked if I could let their child try a game I was making while showing my phone with the game loaded to them. Then I sat by the parent and just handed my phone to the kid which took away any creepy guy with my kid feelings. One lady had 2 boys who were willing to argue about who goes first. Easily solved with a dime from my pocket and a coin toss to see who went first with the looser receiving the change as a buyoff to not whine. If you are the type of person thats comfortable talking to strangers I think it might be worth taking a trip to the hospital.
This isn’t related to a conference but just general stuff to keep in mind.
Just a few weeks ago I went to lunch with the kids (well ok 21 and 27 not really kids but as they don’t get offended by it neither should you). Chinese buffet. Food was good. Quite a few tables full of people. The boy wanted me to test his Gamemaker Studio arena style shooter game (again… think I have done maybe a dozen play sessions over the past many months).
So after finishing eating he brought out his laptop as I wiped down the table in front of me. He got it all set up and I started playing. So we have this little discussion. I like that change. Is cool. Not so keen on this one but that’s probably a matter of preference. “So an option?” (ah he listens lol). Anyway I was zoned in then noticed a head approaching from my right. Young guy probably mid 20s. “Hey how ya doing? I suppose we were a little noisy. He’s making a game and I am testing it for him.” He said oh I figured that’s what was going on.
Anyway my point here is although I didn’t we could have simply said hey let me get up and you sit down and give it a go. No worries. If you think it sucks then say that and why. We didn’t because it was more of a laid back family get together.
But just get out there. Get out of the dang house. Go where there are people and I think most places you will find one or more people curious and probably willing to give it a go. I plan on going over to Huddle House, the local truck stop, chinese and mexican restaurants when I ever get to a point of doing the Steam Indie thing. Just let them play and watch. Answer their questions but nothing more til the end. First just sit there probably right in the dead center for max visibility and play the game. Hang out enough to catch a few people at each place. Ideally can get some contact info and continue with testing via Internet.
But like someone mentioned above… I am kinda that guy.
I absolutely love the responses in this thread. They are so positive! I’m gonna make it a point that when my game gets near completion I will go out and demo it to people.
Don’t forget comic book store game nights. They are surprisingly open to allowing you to sit and let people play test your game during the evenings.
Are you sure? Maybe a Unity user group meeting instead?
User group meeting are great places to have some playtest your game, though developers - sometimes aren’t the best playtesters, especially when they are not into developing or playing the type of game you have created. Better to get general public - gamers to play test.
Offer the type of games I’m interested in, OR stand in front of the door and not allow me to leave before I try the game out.
Convincing people to play your game can actually be a bit challenging, whether you are an official exhibitor or not. Interacting with a game is a little bit of a social commitment. Some people have a natural aversion to that sort of interaction. I was at PAX over the weekend, and I’ve seen this from exhibitors and attendees.
If you want to persuade someone to play your game, and they’ve indicated that they’d rather not, it might be persuasive to highlight the fact that they would be doing you a favor, and that you would very much appreciate their involvement.