---
name: playtesting
description: Use when planning, running or analysing playtests, from quick hallway tests to structured sessions. Focuses on observed behaviour, clear questions and actionable findings.
---

# Playtesting

Draft from the Game studio skills library by THE DREAMING JESTER. Adapt it to your game, team and engine.

## Goal

Learn what players actually do and feel, and turn that into specific changes.

## Before you start

- Write two or three questions the test must answer.
- Choose testers who match the target audience and have not seen the build, where possible.

## Process

1. Prepare a stable build, a short script and a way to record screen, input and voice with consent.
2. Give minimal instructions. Do not explain what the game should already communicate.
3. Watch more than you ask: where players look, hesitate, fail and smile.
4. Ask open questions afterwards: what were you trying to do, what was confusing, what would you do next?
5. Separate observations from opinions and suggestions. Weight observed behaviour highest.
6. Group findings by frequency and severity, and link each to a proposed change.
7. Retest the changes with new players.

## Quality bar

- Findings cite what was observed, not only what was said.
- Each finding has a severity, a frequency and an owner.
- The next test checks whether the changes worked.

## Output

A test plan, recordings or notes, and a ranked findings report with proposed changes.

## Avoid

- Leading questions and explaining the game during the test.
- Treating one player's request as a requirement.