playtesting for indie studios
TRANSCRIPT
Playtesting for Indie Studios Pejman Mirza-Babaei, Ph.D.,
Brandon Drenikow
Naeem Moosajee, M.Sc. @naeemmoose [email protected]
Me
o Focus on taking methods and techniques learned in industry and developing techniques indies can u7lize
o Research focused on Games User Research
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Agenda
Intro
Methods & Approach
Games Tested
Takeaways
Next Steps
Execution Labs 4
o XL is a hands-on early stage investor in game studios
Games User Research 5
o Games User Research focuses on players’ psychology and their behaviour via techniques such as playtes7ng, analy7cs, expert analysis, and others.
o Game User Researchers aim to help game developers deliver players the best gaming experience possible.
h"p://gamesuserresearchsig.org/what-is-gur/
Approach 6
Summary
o 6 different commercial games
o 11 playtest case studies
o 118 par7cipants in total
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Five Key Factors - Tips
o Influencing playtes7ng for indie studios 1. Playtes7ng process
2. Playtest focus and methods 3. Playtest lab setup
4. Building par7cipants database 5. Developers playtes7ng training
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(1) Playtesting Process
o Process should define • Design of playtes7ng stages
• Number of par7cipants, 7me playing, number of researchers needed etc.
• Analysis and repor7ng
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(2) Playtest Focus & Methods
o What to evaluate? o What ques7ons do you want me to answer? o What is your design intent?
o FTUE and RITE o First hour experience and onboarding phase
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(3) Playtest Lab Setup
o Dedicated lab vs ad hoc setup
o Observa7onal data • Video game capture
• Microphone recording • Webcam recording of faces or
input interac7on
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(4) Building Participants Database
o Large diverse par7cipant pool o Online form with demographic data • On which pla^orm do you usually play? • How many hours per week do you spend playing video
games on consoles or PC? • What are your favorite gaming genres and themes? • At which frequency do you play video games on tablets or
smartphones? • What are your favorite mobile gaming genres and themes?
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(5) Developer Training
o Workshops to train developers
o Sessions on how to: • Conduct an interview / focus group • Create a survey
• What telemetry hooks are important to track • Selec7ng par7cipants
• Colour, shape and signs for Usability
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Next Steps
o Playtes7ng can help • Resources are not always available
o Focus on how to address indie needs • More explora7on needed
• Indie development 7meframe
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Questions?
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