February 2013: Playtesting

February 2013's topic was submitted by game designer Pascal Belanger.


Play testing, (may it be iterative or planned with a group of your target audience) is a process more and more used by companies.

My very first contact with the concept was when I heard that Valve was play testing their games as soon as the first prototype was made.  This is part of their design philosophy and we can learn a lot from them on that part.  For instance, it has helped them to make the flow of Portal's learning curve as seamless as possible.

• What importance do you attribute to play testing? 
• What part does it take in your design flow? 
•  How often do you do it?

An article about the relationship between Portal and play testing : http://www.develop-online.net/news/29500/Playtesting-was-crucial-to-Portals-success