Pejman Mirza-Babaei; Naeem Moosajee; Brandon Drenikow, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

1. Playtesting for Indie Studios
Pejman Mirza-Babaei, Ph.D.,
Brandon Drenikow
Naeem Moosajee, M.Sc.
@naeemmoose
naeem.moosajee@gmail.com

2. 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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3. Agenda
Intro
Methods &
Approach
Games
Tested
Takeaways
Next Steps

4. Execution Labs 4
o XL is a hands-on early stage investor in game studios

5. 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/

6. Approach 6

7. Summary
o 6 different commercial games
o 11 playtest case studies
o 118 par7cipants in total
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8. 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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9. (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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10. (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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11. (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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12. (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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13. (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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14. 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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15. Questions?
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