Playtesting: Get that Feedback! - leemet16/game-design-toolkit GitHub Wiki

Playtesting is the single most important activity in the design process (Fullerton, 2014). Playtesting is a phase that drives the entire design process to gather information into whether the game is achieving its goals. Playtesting starts with your initial prototype and continues during every single subsequent version of your game.

Playtesting involves getting feedback from yourself, your team, and from other students (classmates) and intended game-players to help you modify or tweak your game to ensure that the game remains effective and engaging.

Here's a video with some background on the value and process of playtesting: Playtesting.

Feedback

Image Source: Dom

The key steps of playtesting according to Fullerton (2014) are as follows:

Recruit your testers: At the very beginning of the process, you and your team may be the only testers. As the game develops, you can enlist your classmates or larger community. It is important, however, that your intended audience (elementary school students) be part of your testing group to ensure the goals of the game are reached when your game-players use it.
Conduct your playtesting session: Now that you have a group of testers ready to give feedback on your game, it's time to start the playtesting session. Introduce the testers briefly to what will happen during the session (you can have testers playtest in a group or individually). Have an initial discussion to get the conversation started and find out what other games they play and like that may be similar to yours. Guide them to "play" the game for between 15 and 20 minutes; remind them that they are to give any and all types of feedback (you choose how they will provide this feedback) on the game (there are no wrong answers). If you are using direct feedback, then encourage them to think out loud so you can take note of their comments; and if they forget to continue "thinking" out loud, then gently remind them. Try to get as much input as you can from the tester to get more details on their experience. Consider also using surveys or rating systems. Try not to answer their comments immediately or lead the conversation in a certain direction and focus more on taking notes. If you are using questionnaires, then read Questionnaires. If you are unsure of how to formulate the questions for users, read this article.
Organize and summarize: If you are using direct feedback (i.e. conversation with your testers), make sure that you take notes on everything that is mentioned by your testers. You will not be able to remember all the comments without writing them down. Divide the notes into sections. For example: observations you made while they were playing, feedback they raised while playing, and input received when you asked them questions after the game. If you are using questionnaires or surveys, be sure to group them in appropriate sections to create your summary. Look at your summary notes and see if there are obvious groupings to the feedback that you received (types of comments, areas of your game, etc.).
Analyze: Review your summary notes and analyze the comments. Some will be very useful while others may be trivial. Apply the valid feedback and modify your prototype (or any version of the game) and get ready for another playtesting session.

Tips

Make it as easy as possible for the player to provide feedback to you. You can also consider developing a channel within the game to get feedback.
The ideal tester should not know you at all in order to ensure the most objective feedback.
The earlier you start playtesting, the better.

Real World

Playtesting is a critical step that all game developers must incorporate in their efforts. Even professional game development companies such as Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, Activision, and others use playtesting.

Playtest!

Start your playtesting cycle and get feedback (you choose the method by which you get that feedback) from at least 5 players (at least 3 need to be from your targeted audience).

References

Fullerton, T. (2006). Play-centric games education. Computer, 39(6), 36-42.

Fullerton, T. (2014). Game design workshop: a playcentric approach to creating innovative games. CRC press.

Laurie, L. (2014, October 24). How to Playtest – Part 1 "Set the Stage". Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/how-to-playtest-part-1-set-the-stage/

Mullich, D. (2014, June 23). LAFS Game Design 8 - Playtesting. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.slideshare.net/dmullich/lafs-game-design-8-playtesting

Patton, S. (2017, April 27). The Definitive Guide to Playtest Questions. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.schellgames.com/blog/insights/the-definitive-guide-to-playtest-questions

St. John, V. (2013, January 23). Best Practices: Five Tips for Better Playtesting. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/185258/best_practices_five_tips_for_.php