How / Where do you get Play testers?

edited in Questions and Answers
Hi.

Soon i will require testers. Where do you get testers?
I have a few different versions that needs to be tested.

Currently all my testing was done on IOS, but i also have a PC build and a MAC build and an Android build that needs to be played often to check for bugs etc.
Do testers sign NDA's?

Thank you for reading.
Cheers

Comments

  • I tend to just post things publically, it is easier to get good feedback from people that are interested in your game.

    It is easiest to give people as many options to play the game as possible. It can help you weed out platform specific issues at the same time.

    In terms of signing NDAs - sure you can get testers to sign them, but not if you post publically, and in most circumstances as an indie or hobbyist game developer you aren't going to lose much by not having an NDA in place (unless your game is the next crack-cocaine of games and is going to become the next big thing).
  • We (Free Lives) let players play the game right from the start, and only once people think the product is worth money do we start putting it behind a paywall. If your product looks interesting then people will want to try it out (and be willing to reciprocate with feedback)

    Generally a community like this one is a good place to post a playable version of the game. Game developers tend to give more critical feedback, but at the same time aren't likely to do exhaustive bug testing (because they are too busy trying to fix their own bugs).

    I've gotten testers from forums like Touch Arcade before (for IOS), but I found that on balance they're only offering to test your game so that they can play free games.

    If the game is indie-centric then TIGSource is a good place. You also might be able to get some players at IndieDB.

    It's good to post videos/images to encourage potential players to try your produce (especially when there are known bugs that might spoil the experience).

    We use testers to spread word about the game and build momentum up until launch, so we wouldn't dream of making them sign NDA's (and that works for us).
  • I have a question!

    So I've been reaching out to other forums, and I can't figure out IndieDB... Their forums are full of mods, full of various really scattered chatter, and from what I can tell, nowhere to post games for feedback, per se. I don't know where to look in that forum...

    I know there's a database thing where you have to fill in a mile of stuff to get a game into a database, so is that where people actually go? Do people wonder around that database looking for new entries?

    TIGSource is pretty good, though, and a MASSIVE community. Massive.
  • Thank you for the feedback.
    It is nice to hear how others are going about this.

    For small games i reckon i will not use NDA's and make the games available publicly.

    @Tuism unfortunately i cannot comment but i would also like to know.

    Cheers
  • edited
    Sometimes its really cool to let a random person or group of people play your game like on a bus or at a coffee shop, its good indicator for how accessible your game is in terms of gameplay. Like Rami said to us if you cant sell it quick then you doing something wrong.
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