What does the Game Design Test measure?

It checks if your development process includes essential practices, like player personas, playtesting, and iteration, that improve your odds of success.

Why is knowing your target audience important in game design?

Understanding your players through personas helps you design mechanics and experiences that resonate with them.

How often should a game be playtested?

Regular playtesting with a variety of players helps reveal blind spots and ensures your design works beyond your own team.

What should I do if playtest reactions don’t match my intentions?

Use feedback loops to adjust your design until reactions consistently align with the experience you want to deliver.

How fast should a prototype reach players?

The sooner you get something playable in front of testers, the quicker you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t.

Why build multiple prototypes?

Exploring many versions helps you test different ideas and find the most engaging gameplay before committing to full development.

Why analyze games with similar mechanics?

Researching successful and failed examples helps you avoid common pitfalls and refine your own design.

How should teams decide which features to keep?

Testing features and keeping only the ones that perform well ensures the game remains focused and enjoyable.

Game Design Quiz: Are You Just Hoping Your Project Works?

What It’s Like To Work With Us?

People I’ve worked with on titles like Pokemon Go, Minecraft, Halo Infinite, and more:

Toño quickly stepped in with process suggestions that were adopted and sped up our ability to put out work faster than it was coming in. Even though he was an engineer at the time, he understood which parts of Scrum we actually needed on a small prototyping team and which we could ignore. His grasp of what we were making, how it needed to be made, and how to organize the team helped us come from behind and hit our deadlines. If he hadn’t taken over the production process on that project, I’m not sure we would have made it.

Sam Strick / Game Director @ Very Very Spaceship

We brought Toño in as an engineer on a prototype feature for a live mobile game, and he quickly became a partner in improving our Scrum and Agile processes. He consistently delivered when speed and accuracy were critical, and adapted easily as requirements changed. His process suggestions made our sprints smoother and our output more reliable.

Xavier Rodriguez / Former Senior Producer @ Very Very Spaceship

Toño brings strong production knowledge on top of considerable technical skill. He recently ran a seminar for our students on game project scheduling and prioritization that was clear, concrete, and immediately useful. I’d recommend him to any team that needs a sharper plan and better prioritization for their game projects.

Ellen Guon Beeman / Associate Professor and Former Department Chair of Game Development @ DigiPen Institute of Technology

Is Your Game Design Set Up to Succeed or Just Sound Good?

Answer a few questions to find out if your project has met the baseline design milestones or if you're still missing critical early steps.

Pokemon GO

Ark Survival Evolved

Minecraft

Halo Infinite

Catan

Crucible

Pokemon Go