Practical Game Design

Group playtesting

Sometimes the most efficient way of playtesting your game is to put it into the hands of a whole group of people simultaneously.

Group sessions are often used on the cusp of big production milestones and may also be the only way to validate certain components such as multiplayer gameplay and balance. It’s a format that allows you to cover more ground, for the price of introducing peer-to-peer bias, missing minor usability problems, and diluting the feedback.

The playtesting user group is usually composed of a single cohort, be it company employees, fans and influential community members, recruited testers, press, or friends and family. If possible, try your game on various groups to see how the general opinion differs between ...