As a game developer and instructor, I always knew this: we’re bad at judging whether our own games “work.”
What I didn’t fully grasp, until I opened the consultancy, was how widespread this blind spot is across developers.
Again and again, I meet developers who:
- Are about to pitch to publishers
- Are preparing a public demo
- Or are days from a big milestone
…and when I ask, “How many playtests have you run with people who don’t know you?” the honest answer is usually:
“We haven’t really had time to do that yet.”
They’re not dodging the problem. They just don’t realize how critical this step is, or how much work and re‑work it would save if they did it earlier.
Lack of playtesting is the most consistent pattern I see hurting developers right now.
If you’re reading this and thinking “this might be me,” you don’t have to keep guessing from your desk. I’ve put together a short page that explains how my free 30‑minute Game Design Session works and how to request a spot. If you want my eyes on your game before you show it to anyone important, start there.
Request My Free 30-Minute Game Design Session
Why You’re One Of The Worst People To Judge Your Own Game
You live inside your game:
- You know every shortcut and hidden path
- You’ve internalized all the timings and “feel”
- You know what’s interactable and what’s just background
- You know the “correct” order to do things
You’re not experiencing the game like a new player.
You’re experiencing a memory of the game.
New players get none of that context. They don’t know:
- What matters and what’s decoration
- What the UI is trying to tell them
- What’s safe or dangerous
- What “obvious” next step you had in mind
You’re not wrong for seeing it differently.
You just have way more information than they do.
Mental Models: When “Obvious” Isn’t
Players don’t arrive as blank slates. They bring years of habits:
- “This button has to be jump.”
- “Glowy things are interactable.”
- “If I fall into a hole, that’s probably game over.”
If, in your game, falling into some pits is required or safe, you don’t need a giant popup…
but you do need to show early, in a low‑risk way, that “falling here is okay.”
For example: a small, contained area where dropping is the only real option and they safely land somewhere interesting. No tutorial text needed. The game itself teaches, “Sometimes down is progress, not death.”
If you don’t deliberately teach against default expectations, many players will quietly conclude “this game is broken” instead of “my assumptions were wrong.”
Why Friends And Family Aren’t Enough
Testing with friends and family feels safe, but it hides reality:
- They’ll tolerate way more confusion because they care about you
- They’ll keep playing long after a regular player would quit
- They’ll soften harsh feedback to protect your feelings
That’s human, but it means “it’s fine” from them is often miles away from how a stranger will react when your build hits a festival, a publisher’s inbox, or a store page.
You need playtests with people who:
- Don’t know you
- Don’t owe you anything
- Will quit the moment the experience feels confusing, unfair, or boring
That’s the reality you’re shipping into.
Test With The Right Kind Of Players
There’s another layer: who you test with.
If you’re making a cozy, low‑pressure game and you hand it to someone who only loves high‑intensity action, their feedback will be noisy. Same in reverse.
They’re not wrong for wanting something else. They’re just not your player.
Good playtesting isn’t “show it to anyone with a pulse.”
It’s “find people who actually want the kind of experience you’re building, then see where they struggle or disengage.”
At minimum, sketch a simple player profile:
- What kinds of games do they already enjoy?
- What do they typically hate or bounce from?
- Where do they naturally gather? (Discords, subreddits, forums, events)
That last one tells you where to go when it’s time to ask people to try your game.
One Player Isn’t A Verdict (But Patterns Are)
Not every weird moment means “redesign everything.”
Treat observations like this:
- 1 player hits a snag → interesting
- 2 players mention it → pay attention
- 3 players in a row struggle the same way → real problem
- Half your testers have the issue → redesign immediately
If you change course every time one person complains, you’ll thrash your game to death.
The point of playtesting isn’t to obey every suggestion.
It’s to gather enough observations that patterns become obvious.
Patterns tell you:
- Where onboarding actually fails
- Which affordances are misleading
- Which mechanics players consistently ignore, misuse, or bounce from
That’s where your limited development time gets the biggest return.
If you’re already sitting on scattered notes or just a gut feeling that “something’s off” but you’re not sure what to fix first, we can walk through it together. I’ll help you separate one‑off comments from real patterns and turn that into a short, focused plan for your next round of changes.
Request My Free 30-Minute Game Design Session
“We Don’t Have Time To Playtest”
Around big milestones, I hear this constantly:
“We only had a short window before this build; we didn’t have time to playtest.”
What that really means is: “We used all that time building more game.”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If you had spent that same window running playtests and fixing the biggest friction points, your game would be smaller right now… but the people you’re about to show it to would actually get to experience more of it.
A lot of “extra content” ends up locked behind confusion, frustration, or unclear early‑game experience. No one reaches it.
Playtesting doesn’t slow you down.
It stops you from sprinting in the wrong direction.
How To Run A Useful Playtest (Without Contaminating It)
You don’t need a lab. You need a simple, honest loop:
-
Clarify your target player.
In a few lines, write:- What they like
- What they usually hate
- Where they hang out (in person)
-
Go where they already are.
Use that to find communities or events where those players gather. Asking for testers there gets you feedback from people who actually want your kind of game. -
Give the minimum setup.
Hand them the game with only essential context. If it needs a long lecture to make sense, that’s already telling you something. -
Shut up and watch.
Your job in the session is not to walk them through the “right” path.- Don’t explain unless they explicitly ask
- Don’t rescue them the second they’re confused
- Don’t argue or defend during the session
Sit, watch, and take notes.
-
Take structured notes.
Track:- Where they hesitate or look lost
- Where their body language shows frustration or boredom
- Where they clearly enjoy themselves
-
Compile, filter, and act.
After a few sessions, group notes by:- Frequency (how many players hit the same thing)
- Impact (does it stop progress, or just feel a bit off?)
Then factor in stage:
- In prototype, you can trash or radically change mechanics that consistently fail.
- In vertical slice or later, you’re mostly refining, clarifying, and guiding better.
You don’t fix everything at once. You fix the most painful, most common issues first, then test again.
Ready To See What Your Players Actually Experience?
Once you start playtesting this way, you’ll suddenly see a lot more problems. That’s normal. It means you’re finally seeing what’s already there.
If you want help interpreting what you see, deciding what matters, and turning that into changes that actually improve player experience instead of just adding more work, we can do that together.
Request My Free 30-Minute Game Design Session
Bring your current build, notes, or even just your plan for your next playtest. In 30 minutes, we’ll:
- Look at where players are most likely to get stuck or bounce
- Turn “something feels off here” into specific changes
- Sketch a simple, prioritized plan for your next round of improvements
Your game isn’t the version in your head or in your design doc.
It’s whatever a stranger, with no context and no loyalty to you, experiences in those first few minutes.
Playtesting is how you make that experience worth their time.
Frequently Asked Questions About Playtesting
When should I start playtesting my game?
As soon as you have anything a stranger can interact with: a rough prototype, a small slice, even a paper or board‑game version of your loop. The longer you wait, the more wrong assumptions you stack into the build before reality has a chance to correct you.
How many players do I need per playtest round?
You don’t need 50 people. Start with 3–5 players who actually match your target profile. Run a few sessions, look for patterns in where they get stuck or bored, make changes, then test again with another small batch.
How is playtesting different from QA or bug testing?
QA is about stability: crashes, soft locks, technical errors. Playtesting is about experience: do players understand what to do, feel engaged, and want to continue. You need both, but playtesting should start much earlier and focuses on design and onboarding, not just bugs.
Can I playtest if I only have a prototype or paper design?
Yes. In early stages, you’re not proving polish, you’re proving the core idea. You can test a paper version, a greybox level, or a tiny loop and still learn a lot about clarity, pacing, and whether people actually enjoy what you’re aiming for.
How often should I run playtests?
Aim to test as frequent as possible, roughly weekly if you’re actively iterating. Early on, expect big messy lists of issues (that’s normal); later, the lists get shorter and more about fine‑tuning. Just make sure you’re improving the build between rounds so you’re not collecting the same feedback on repeat.
What if I can’t find my exact target players?
Aim as close as you can: people who like similar genres, pacing, or themes. It’s better to test with “nearby” players than not test at all. But if you’re consistently struggling to find the right audience, that’s a sign your player profile and outreach need work.
What should I bring to a 30-minute Game Design Session?
Bring whatever you already have: a current build, a short video of someone playing, playtest notes, or even just your plan for your next test. In the session we’ll look at where players are most likely to get stuck or bounce and turn that into 2–3 clear changes to test next.
Is this still useful if my game is almost done?
Yes, but the focus shifts. Early on, you’re deciding what the game should be; later, you’re refining how clearly and smoothly you deliver that experience. Late‑stage playtests often uncover small onboarding and UX fixes that dramatically improve first impressions without rewriting the whole game.
