I’m working on a game for the OUYA mobile platforms. I’ve been testing it with family it’s going down really well. As i’m adding tweaks here there adding features I’m thinking it’s perhaps time to have the game play tested but I’m not sure which direction to go.
I’ve mainly been testing the game on the OUYA and I need to get the touch controls working perfectly if I was to test on a mobile device.
There are obviously lots of ways, but one thing that has worked well for me is to sit next someone playing, asking them to explain how they’re thinking while playing and taking notes. It is a good way to find confusing or problematic parts of the game that you as a designer have overlooked.
My top tip would be don’t just send it to people and ask then what they thought. 9 times out of ten they’ll say “fine” and maybe mention any obvious technical problems but they won’t mention if they had any problems playing. The best thing to do is give the game and then watch them.
The most important thing you can get from play testing is detailed information on what people are actually doing.
You can also ask them why they did a particular thing but this information usually isn’t so reliable.
The least useful information from play testing is suggestions from the testers on what to fix. Usually they know that there’s a problem but have no idea how to fix it - having said that sometimes it is useful to get a different perspective on the broader design of the game.