PICK THE
RIGHT PLAYTEST METHOD
It’s important to deploy the correct method when playtesting your video game. Luckily, Steve Bromley is here to tell you how to pick which one is right for you
T
here are many different ways to run a playtest, and selecting the right method is essential to getting value from the time you spend organising
and running a playtest. It’s tempting to default to the methods that feel ‘easiest’ to deploy - such as sending out a survey to a group you’ve gathered on Discord. However we need to make sure the method chosen
gathers the right kind of data to inspire the decisions your team has to make, in a reliable and unbiased method. This avoids low impact studies and gathering data you can’t trust (ultimately wasting the time you’ve invested into your playtest) In this article we’ll cover a process you can use to decide what playtest method is most appropriate for your team to gather robust and reliable data.
START WITH ‘WHAT DO WE WANT TO LEARN’ Before selecting a research method, you need to be clear on your objectives - what you want to learn from the playtest. This is typically a collaborative task involving discussions with other team members to agree on priorities and upcoming decisions that playtest data can help inform. The outcome
should be a shortlist of research objectives - specific questions your playtest aims to answer.
24 | MCV/DEVELOP April/May 2025
Some example research objectives could include: • Where do players get stuck in this level? • Why do players abandon our game in the first week? • Do players understand how to upgrade their character? • Which game mode do players interact with the most? • Can players defeat this boss? Aligning on clear objectives ensures that your findings will be relevant and actionable to the actual decisions your team has to make.
CATEGORISE YOUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To select the right playtest method, we need to then identify what ‘type’ of question each objective is. Some criteria to ask yourself include: 1. Measurement vs. Understanding • Measurement objectives focus on quantifiable data, such as failure rates or difficulty scores. They help benchmark the state of the game or compare sections, and can often identify ‘where do problems lie’
• Understanding objectives explore the reasons behind player behaviour, such as why they get stuck or lose interest. These qualitative insights often inspire ‘what opportunities exist to influence player behaviour’
• If a research objective covers both (e.g., “What abilities do players use most, and why?”), break it into separate objectives.
2. Behaviour vs. Opinion • Behaviour objectives examine what players actually do. This objective data is more reliable for predicting future actions than players’ subjective opinions.
• Opinion objectives capture player thoughts and feelings, offering insights into decision-making but requiring
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