preferences. They will suggest ways to strengthen the game, instead of ways to simply
change it.
A sixth group to be wary of is extremely hard-core fans, particularly those who are
fanatical about your game’s genre or, in the case of a sequel, the previous version of the
game. These testers will tend to see every difference in your game from other games in
the same genre as being a serious design flaw and will, as a result, stifle whatever cre-
ativity you may try to incorporate in your new game. Appealing to the established fans
of your franchise can be quite important for sequels; yet following every bit of their
advice may result in a game that is not sufficiently different from its predecessors.
When to Test.................................
When is the right time to start playtesting your game? As I have discussed earlier in
this chapter, playtesting can be a key part of your game’s development cycle from as
soon as you get your game playable until it is finally released. That said, there are spe-
cific times when particular types of testing are best applied, and other times when
certain types of testing may be ineffective or even pointless. Knowing when to use each
type of tester is key to not wasting their time.
Of course, your development team should be playing the game as much as possible
through all the phases of its development. As I have mentioned, this is essential to keep
them interested in the project and to enable them to do the best work possible.
Assuming the game is not falling apart, a developer who knows exactly how he is con-
tributing to the project and how that project is turning out will be better informed and
motivated to do his best work possible.
Early playtesting is best done by people experienced in game development, whom
you know very well, and whose opinions you hold in high regard. Early playtesting
requires that the tester overlook many problems: the game crashes frequently, all of the
art is place-holder, sections of the game are obviously incomplete, there is only one
level to play, and so forth. Many people, when given such a game, will be unable to look
beyond these extreme shortcomings. For instance, traditional testers, even if you tell
them to ignore the large sections of the game that are missing, will most likely start
pointing out the completely obvious bugs that need fixing. However, a fairly experi-
enced QA lead will understand the development process better and can start providing
valuable feedback fairly early in the project. Additionally, a friend who is also a game
designer will be able to look at the work and see beyond its current shortcomings, see-
ing instead if the game shows promise. These designers have seen their own projects
in the state yours is currently in, and understand why not everything works yet. These
experienced professionals will be able to recognize and explain fundamental problems
your game design contains better than anyone else.
It makes good sense to establish a small group of people whose opinions you trust
and whom you can show your game to at various stages of development. These may be
fellow game designers, as discussed above, or friends who understand the game devel-
opment process and will be able to provide you with useful feedback. Over the course of
the project, you may want to keep showing your game to this trusted group, so they can
see how the game is progressing and give you their opinions on whether they like
where the game is going and if they think that direction is the best one possible. Since
Chapter 25: Playtesting 489