PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Yet, for indie dev Almar, it offered an escape from the corporate rat race he felt trapped in. I definitely recommend getting feedback from external playtesters at each step “On each one of those steps I end up having one or more concrete ‘products’. The toll on your mental health can be quite high for solo devs.

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Dev Playtesting Art Games 160

Brand Game Development

JULY 9, 2018

/r/tabletopgamedesign and /r/boardgameindustry are good for connecting with other designers and developers, getting feedback on a design, or even organizing playtests. Many developers choose to create their own subreddits for playtesting. The post How to Use Reddit as a Board Game Dev appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

Plus, a smaller indie dev team should be able to handle the scope. We already conducted lots of playtests with children from the age group 10-12 years and really feel that we have hit upon a great formula for the game. Thats why we choose a stylised abstract art style, similar to what could be found in an animated kids show.

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Education Educational Development Games 118

GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 7, 2024

It is currently working on a "non-lethal FPS" for which it intends to hold monthly playtests. Though based in Malmö, Sweden, the team – which already employs 25 developers – works remotely and includes talent from Riot Games, CD Projekt Red, and Ubisoft. Read more

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Playtesting Dev FPS Games 108

Raph Koster

MARCH 3, 2025

We also have done sneak peeks of upcoming features, sessions with other devs on the team, and more. Lastly, I wanted to share some images from recent playtests, because, wow, players have dazzled us with their creations. These dive deep into technical stuff, the background of the project, and more.

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Playtesting Content Animation Animation 102

PreMortem.Games

JULY 29, 2024

Working in Mixed Reality, I met many ex game devs and artists, who I learned from and was greatly inspired by. Although we weren’t making games, the tech for Mixed Reality was identical to making games, so I picked up a lot of technical ability with Unity, game dev, shaders and more.” Especially early-on. It’s made a huge difference.

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Dev Development Sandbox Indy 138

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

I also released the demo on Steam early (after invite-only playtesting) so I can gather feedback from real players. The post Solo dev Rohan Nowell of Doggy Don’t Care “Just start building and ideas will come” appeared first on PreMortem Games. I play games (old and new) to get inspiration and bounce ideas off my wife and friends.

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Build Dev Playtesting Development 138

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 25, 2021

I’ve written before about the usefulness of documenting your playtesting. It contains both pragmatic advice and a primer to the mindset I want you to take into playtesting. Now your game is ready for blind playtesting. Send your game to new blind playtesters. Need help on your board game? Don’t interfere.

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PreMortem.Games

MAY 19, 2023

Intricate mechanics The dev team faced two major challenges when translating the physical act of climbing to gameplay mechanics: replicating the intricate mechanics of grip, support, weight, and motion, and ensuring user-friendliness. Of these, the climbing system proved to be the most demanding task.

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Indy Dev Studios Playtesting 104

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

He took some online courses on programming and he was in business, as a solo dev operating under the name of Frambosa , only six months later. So, his solo debut game Billy Bumbum might be the first and last game he made as a one-man-dev-team. All this before there’s ever any playtesting done.

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Dev Puzzle Prototyping Development 104

Brand Game Development

APRIL 7, 2017

I’m trying something different on the Dev Diary. My hope with the Dev Diary series is that by being really direct and transparent about my own development experiences, you’ll see how I respond to real problems. We’re in this together, game devs. Key Takeaways for Game Devs. This is a teaching blog.

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Mechanics Dev Simulation Games 130

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 4, 2024

Friendshipper is a development tool that the team has been using to improve how efficiently they build this game, such as faster implementation of bug fixes during playtests. The studio was founded by veterans from Riot Games and is currently working on a next-generation open-world multiplayer game.

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Playtesting Open World Development Bug 83

PreMortem.Games

APRIL 19, 2024

One of my close friends, Ches Denison, joined me working 5-10 hours a week as a playtester, game designer, and just a general jack-of-all-trades-guy. Once playtesting began in early 2023, player feedback further refined my vision. Plus, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is the most important thing you can do as a game dev.

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Playtesting Games Mobile Mobile 129

Ask a Game Dev

JANUARY 24, 2025

Really early on, you only have one to five senior devs working on building a prototype for the approved pitches. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ This is primarily because development costs only grow as the project progresses.

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Prototyping Dev Playtesting Build 52

Grumpy Gamer

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

For me to get a new playtest or (more importantly) a dev engine build can take 15-30 minutes. To compile the Windows build on Azure takes between 6 and 15 minutes which is crazy since I can compile the game locally in 1-2 minutes. Same with the Mac build.

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Debug Playtesting Build Engine 130

Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 8, 2023

After we set our estimate, we playtest it to see how it feels. If we don't like it or we were off in our estimations, we adjust, playtest, and repeat. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ

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Playtesting Fighting Dev Games 52

AWS Games

MARCH 13, 2025

Featured sessions include Leveraging AI in Live Service Games with AWS for Games Global Business Development Lead Shayan Sanyal from 2:40-3:40 PM, and Reimagining Game Dev in the AI Era featuring Andrei Muratov, AWS Head of Game Analytics from 10:50-11:50 AM. Reserve your spot for the all-day event.

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AI Demo Games Build 100

Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Through playtesting, you can answer the question “do the mechanics suit the theme?”. Figure out the theme you want to capture, try building it through mechanics, then playtest and tweak until you successfully captured your desired theme. The post Theme vs. Mechanics appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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Mechanics Playtesting Concepts Art 100

Radiator Blog

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

These huge labor-intensive maps are hard to make for a variety of reasons, but in this particular context, the most relevant problem is that playtesting the same hand-tuned encounter repeatedly quickly drains its charm and it becomes difficult to gauge whether it's still interesting or not.

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Brand Game Development

JUNE 3, 2019

You can further pare down journey maps and empathy maps to very specific scenarios and instances which create many playtesting questions. Playtesting in this stage of game design is related to user research in UX design. The post Why Gamification Makes Everything Else More Fun appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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UX Playtesting Game Design Game Designer 130

Grumpy Gamer

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

For me to get a new playtest or (more importantly) a dev engine build can take 15-30 minutes. To compile the Windows build on Azure takes between 6 and 15 minutes which is crazy since I can compile the game locally in 1-2 minutes. Same with the Mac build.

Debug 100

Debug Playtesting Build Engine 100

Brand Game Development

MAY 1, 2017

You can keep a dev diary. If something slips through your playtesting, it might very well be caught in the review stage. appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. There’s a lot of ways to suggest that your game is going to be good. You can release a free PNP version. You can give it gorgeous art.

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Games Playtesting Dev Prototyping 130

Brand Game Development

APRIL 27, 2020

Two groups that come to mind are the Tabletop Game Playtesters Guild and Card & Board Game Designers Guild. The post 6 Ways to Find Play-Testers for Your New Board Game appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. Remember: they’re doing you a huge favor! Finally, go in prepared. Visit your local game store.

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Demo Playtesting Simulation Advertising 130

Radiator Blog

MARCH 16, 2023

Last month, game industry documentary makers 2 Player Productions debuted a massive 32-part YouTube game dev doc series Double Fine PsychOdyssey , chronicling the development of Psychonauts 2 from its earliest glimmers of pre-production in 2015 to its final release in 2021.

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Art Concepts Dev Studios 147

DameDev.tv

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Rick has more than 14 years experience in the game dev industry, working on IP's that include Mario, Transformers, Captain America and Mortal Kombat. Until next time, happy dev'ing! He's done it all, from Game Designer, Producer, Creative Director and Executive Producer to GameDev.tv's

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Game Development Game Developer Development Dev 90

Brand Game Development

MARCH 9, 2020

Watch your playtesters’ reactions. With so many issues, it seems unlikely that Monopoly was thoroughly playtested. At the very least, it wasn’t playtested to modern standards. The post 7 Lessons from Monopoly for Aspiring Board Game Designers appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

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Game Design Game Designer Playtesting Games 130

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 2, 2018

Every iteration of each game has to be created somehow and there are A LOT of iterations – usually a new one after each playtest, especially in the beginning. Whenever I demo or playtest, I make sure to get the email address of the person, so I can inform them when the Kickstarter starts. Carla: I also do a lot of interviews!

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Playtesting Games Advertising Prototyping 130

Keith Burgun

APRIL 27, 2023

I notice it with my playtesters that all of us are sincerely way more excited to play. I’m doing a bunch of playtesting recently on all eight characters because I want them to be as awesome as possible for the launch of the Kickstarter in a few months. By contrast, this version consistently gets way more positive reactions.

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Dev Playtesting Games Development 52

Cocos

MARCH 25, 2024

Hey wonderful folks on the Cocos Dev Team! Also, I’ve been toying around with the animation tool’s “embedded player”… I realize it’s still experimental feature, but it got me thinking… is there a way that we can preview a spine animation in editor without having to manually playtest the game?

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Dev Animation Animation Playtesting 40

Brand Game Development

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Playtest a Ton. The post How to Make Board Game Rules appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. With all this said, how does one create rules that fulfill the twin purposes of balancing the game and communicating clearly? I have some guidelines. This is non-exhaustive and it just includes what’s on my mind this week.

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Balance Games Communications Mechanics 130

Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Then playtest your changes and see how things feel. Then gather some friends, playtest the game, and see if it feels good. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ How does the game experience change if you halve the price of every property?

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Playtesting Dev Build Game Design 52

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

If you hate the game you’re playtesting, do something different. Don’t just playtest it and refine the mechanics. The post 10 Elements of Good Game Design appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. This seems obvious, but never lose sight of it. was garbage in its first ten iterations. It stalled out for the next four.

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Game Designer Game Design Tile Games 130

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 3, 2018

They could be manufacturers, retailers, designers, or playtesters. The post Why Board Game Publishers Like Some Games and Don’t Like Others appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. So they get the axe. Most publishers have friends in the business. You’re the captain of a boat on a bigger sea.

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Games Retail Game Design Game Designer 130

Brand Game Development

MARCH 29, 2021

Now look, some parts of game design – like playtesting or accessibility testing – can be tedious. The post 3 Signs It’s Time to Quit Working a Board Game Design Idea appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. Of course, burnout doesn’t just happen all at once. It sneaks up on you and gives you warnings.

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Game Design Game Designer Games Playtesting 130

Ask a Game Dev

MAY 5, 2023

This is where playtesting comes in. We typically run playtests as often as possible in order to ferret out these issues so that we can adjust them if they are too egregious. Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ What is the FANTa project?

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Playtesting Dev Content Texture 52

Brand Game Development

APRIL 20, 2020

Now circling back to what Matt had asked about finding playtesters, here’s how you might apply these principles. The post How to Turn Your Ideas Into Reality appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

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Writing Playtesting Game Developer Game Development 130

DameDev.tv

OCTOBER 7, 2022

Industry veterans Rick Davidson & Tim Ruswick* are joined by Stephen Hubbard to understand how he got started in game dev, see what he’s been up to since we last saw him, discuss how to launch your first game and play his new game, Tilecraft. for people to playtest and provide feedback. that it really stuck!

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