Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Most of the time, we start by setting a target time we think the game experience should take for a first-time player to feel what we want them to feel, and then add about 50% to that. After we set our estimate, we playtest it to see how it feels. After we set our estimate, we playtest it to see how it feels.

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Fighting Dev Games 52

GamesIndustry.biz

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

At the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit in September, organisational psychologist Graham McAllister presented a talk entitled 'Game vision alignment: Its role in team effectiveness,' exploring how studios can improve their games by maintaining a clear vision of what they're creating.

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Playtesting Development Game Developer Game Development 135

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 19, 2023

One of the biggest breakout hits of 2023 was the haunting fishing adventure Dredge by New Zealand-based indie developer Black Salt Games. Much to the delight (and surprise) of the four-person crew, their debut game sold 100.000 copies in the first 24 hours after launch, smashing the goal for the whole year.

Playtesting 115

Playtesting Rigging Horror Prototyping 115

iXie gaming

APRIL 16, 2024

Game testing involves assessing and evaluating video games to ensure they meet specific quality standards before launching them to the public. Testers must take a comprehensive testing approach to ensure the game is thoroughly tested and free from bugs, glitches, and other performance issues that may affect the end-user experience.

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Bug Games Development 52

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 15, 2024

In Guntouchables by Danish indie developer Game Swing , enemies randomly power up from the upgrades that a team of four players can’t lift out of the levels. This leads to some unexpected and quite frankly, explosive situations as the game progresses. Game Swing was founded in 2013 by five Danish game design students.

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Co-op Playtesting Balance Art 134

Game Developer

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Here's how playtesting helped Whitethorn Games refine the process. Ideally, accessibility is a primary design goal, not an afterthought.

Playtesting 187

Playtesting Build Games 187

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 26, 2023

Google is reportedly playtesting a new YouTube feature called Playables, which would let users play games on the platform. According to the Wall Street Journal , which had access to an email sent to Google employees about Playables, games would be accessible directly on YouTube's website, or via the iOS or Android YouTube app.

Feature 97

Feature Playtesting Games Platformer 97

Tom Francis

MAY 27, 2023

What follows is how my first game of this iteration of Scavenger Chess played out… The board: littered with precious items and horsies. But it gives black time to grab the Dark Horse with their now Level 2 Bone Queen, leaving black with the only long range units for the rest of the game! Bugle is strong, though.

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Tile Balance Code 52

PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 3, 2024

Based in the city of Ohrid in North Macedonia, the two brothers Bobby and Zhanko Mojsovski work hard on their next game, the bodycam survival-horror shooter Chasmal Fear. Our games are made for the players. “We noticed that most bodycam games were either hyper-realistic shooters or found-footage games. .

Horror 209

Horror Build Playtesting Animation 209

PreMortem.Games

MAY 1, 2023

BitCake Studio , an indie game development studio based in Brazil, is celebrating its 10th year in the industry. Eduardo Lamhut, the company’s main Game Designer and Creative Director of the upcoming game Atomic Picnic , explains how the company started. There was a bunch of things she wanted in the game.

Studios 104

Studios Build Playtesting Concepts 104

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

“As I travel across Africa creating games, there’s something everyone seems to agree on…” says Bethlehem Anteneh , a trained architect, co-founder of SOSTLab and the moderator of the She Got Game panel at Africa Games Week (AGW). Think of a bar where 90% of the people are men.

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Game Developer Game Development Development Games 141

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 30, 2023

The debut game Dredge from New Zealand-based indie studio Black Salt Games oozes atmosphere and manages to combine multiple genres into one haunting adventure. Also, it makes working on the game extra interesting, because we’re trying to create a unique mixture of components that players haven’t seen before.

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Playtesting Prototyping Mechanics Games 104

PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 8, 2024

During the day he works as a Senior Software Engineer at Blizzard Entertainment, creating games like Hearthstone, together with a large group of specialized professionals. This game represents me as a developer”, he says. With the game now announced for a 2024-release, the part time solo dev is motivated to finish the game.

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Dev Playtesting AAA Indy 156

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 20, 2023

The debut game Dredge from New Zealand-based indie studio Black Salt Games oozes atmosphere and manages to combine multiple genres into one haunting adventure. Also, it makes working on the game extra interesting, because we’re trying to create a unique mixture of components that players haven’t seen before.

Playtesting 104

Playtesting Prototyping Mechanics Games 104

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 16, 2023

The Ancients is a turn-based survival strategy game where players lead a prehistoric hunter-gatherer tribe through the last ice age. It’s the debut game of Turkish studio Gorilla Softworks. It’s the debut game of Turkish studio Gorilla Softworks. “We Both are big fans of the strategy genre and in particular the Populous games.

Technology 104

Technology Indy Playtesting Games 104

GamesIndustry.biz

APRIL 17, 2023

While Nexon and Ironmace are both Korean, the suit argues that the US District Court Western District of Washington is an appropriate venue because Dark and Darker playtests were conducted on Steam (owned by Bellevue-Washington-based Valve) and some of the game's marketing has targeted American players. Read more

Playtesting 96

Playtesting Studios Games 96

Brand Game Development

JULY 9, 2018

Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. To help us understand the nuances of Reddit, particularly board game Reddit, I’ve brought in Raf Cordero. Reddit was one of the first gaming communities I discovered while getting into the hobby.

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Dev Playtesting Games Platformer 130

Brand Game Development

MARCH 9, 2020

Monopoly: it’s one of the oldest board games in the store. It’s one of the top 10 best-selling board games. It’s also a terrible board game. When board gamers need a game to mercilessly mock , they look no further than Monopoly. Need help on your board game? Monopoly has a staggeringly low 4.4

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Playtesting Games 130

iXie gaming

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

The last thing you need is to release a faulty or error-prone video game to players. Players will not like it and may create a negative impression of your video game due to the poor gameplay experience. Remember, we live in an interconnected world where your video game can go viral overnight, attracting significant traffic.

Quality Assurance 52

Quality Assurance Bug Cross platform Playtesting 52

Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 14, 2023

The best way to get better at being a systems designer is to design game systems for games. This doesn't have to be designing systems for video games - a lot of system designers I know are extremely proficient card, board, and tabletop game designers too. What happens if each player starts the game with a monopoly?

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Dev Build Game Design 52

Brand Game Development

APRIL 27, 2020

Play-testing is the most important part of board game design. It’s how you turn rough, raw ideas into polished, ready-to-play games. ” Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Visit your local game store.

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Demo Playtesting Simulation Advertising 130

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Twenty years ago Rohan Nowell made a game for a high school project and it was then that the seed was planted. However, it took another 15 years for his debut game Swoopy Boi to come out. The mobile game about a Magpie that swoops down and attacks pedestrians was successful enough for Nowell to keep developing games. “I

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Dev Build Playtesting Demo 134

Brand Game Development

MARCH 31, 2017

Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Naturally, this game is nowhere remotely close to completion. Also, the game doesn’t have a defined win condition yet. I’ve created a playtesting log and I’ve done 11 tests so far.

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Dev Playtesting Simulation Editing 130

The GameDev Guru

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Learn the basics of the Unity Immediate Window package by solving a critical challenge in Game Development: Automating Playtests!

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Playtesting Art Game Developer Game Development 100

PreMortem.Games

MAY 19, 2023

Wikkl Works , a Netherlands-based game studio, is working hard on the climbing game New Heights. By using photogrammetry the game offers real life locations like famous rock faces or even well known landmarks. Then we got the idea to scan real world cliffs and mountains into the game using photogrammetry.

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Indy Studios Dev Playtesting 104

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

When I was a neophyte game developer, I found an excellent article by Wizards of the Coast, creators of Magic: the Gathering , called Ten Things Every Game Needs. No matter what type of game you’re making, these 10 elements are critical to making a good game. Need help on your board game? A clear objective.

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Game Design Game Designer Tile Games 130

DameDev.tv

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Do you ever wonder how you can get better at game development? If so, keep reading for some great tips and watch the Livecast for all 12 ways to get better at game development. 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.

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Game Developer Game Development Development Dev 90

iXie gaming

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

The gaming world has evolved significantly in recent times. Multiplayer games have taken center stage by allowing players to play with or against other gamers and friends across the globe. As a result, multiplayer games have revolutionized modern gaming, from human vs. computer to human vs. human interaction.

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Game Developer Game Development Development Quality Assurance 52

Brand Game Development

MAY 18, 2020

As the coronavirus lockdown continues, a lot of people are having a hard time getting their board game fix. The ability to play board games online, however, has never been easier. That’s because it’s easy to make board games in Tabletop Simulator, an inexpensive board game simulation tool available on the Steam store.

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Simulation Games Demo Playtesting 130

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 3, 2018

It’s no secret that board game publishers like to reduce risks. Most publishers have a system in place to help them filter marketable game ideas from unmarketable game ideas. Yet the process, so heavy on rejection, has left many game designers heartbroken. Need help on your board game?

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Retail Games Game Design Game Designer 130

Big Games

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Game development isn’t as smooth and glamorous as many newbies imagine. Yet, those professionals in mobile game development services know how to tackle these challenges. But the chaos and the desire to create visually stunning and immersive games fuels their determination. Every aspect of the game undergoes examination.

Game Developer 52

Game Developer Game Development Development Bug 52

iXie gaming

AUGUST 8, 2023

Game lovers can agree that the quality of a gaming application is the most exciting thing about a game setup. Game QA is an integral part of game development which ensures that the end products of console games are safeguarded against glitches. For developers and QA teams, their work is cut out for them.

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Console Games Bug Game Developer 52

Brand Game Development

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

This week while working on my current board game design, a lot of things have come into focus. Now it’s time to start tweaking board game rules. This is where board game design often becomes very tricky. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators.

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Balance Games Communications Mechanics 130

Brand Game Development

MARCH 29, 2021

From time to time, I see board game creators on social media who have been working on the same design day-in, day-out for years on end. The first are people making a board game as a labor of love, who know they’re taking their sweet time on it, and they’re OK with it. Need help on your board game?

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Game Design Game Designer Games Playtesting 130

Cocos

MARCH 25, 2024

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? Particularly in the animation timeline tool?

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Dev Animation Animation Playtesting 40

PreMortem.Games

MAY 24, 2023

White Star Studio, a small and ambitious game development studio based in Shenzen, China, has captured the essence of ancient China in their game Thriving City. When the team first decided to make a sim management style game, they quickly settled on a city building sim. “We by Emperor Taizu of Song.

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Studios Balance Content Playtesting 104

Brand Game Development

JUNE 3, 2019

The concept is simple: through gamification, you take the elements we associate with games – point scoring, competition, rules – and apply them to something else. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Gamification is a fantastic tool.

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UX Playtesting Game Design Game Designer 130