7 Steps to Video Game Testing

When it comes to video game testing, you want to make certain you make note of everything the game company requires. How do you go about doing this? Well, if you follow these seven steps to video game testing, you'll be able to write up a very detailed report that should give the company and the game programmers everything they need.

1.) Read any materials sent with the game. Often, the game company wants your feedback on how well the instructions match up with the actual game. Plus, you'll want to have a good idea of what the game is about before you start playing.

2.) Have a method. While playing a video game normally, you can select whichever character you want. However, when you're testing, you want to be certain you test out every aspect of the game. If you're playing a fighting game, for example, don't randomly select characters. Instead, start at the top of the selection screen or have a list of all the characters and mark them off as you play them. If you don't have some sort of plan, it's possible you'll miss a character, stage, or other important part of the game.

3.) Once you've got your plan made, it's time to start playing the game. If the game progresses linearly (such as action games often do), you'll simply play through the game while taking notes. If it doesn't, you will need to play the game multiple times. Some games are harder to test than others. Role playing games, for example, will require you to speak to every character, search out every secret, and more, while racing games may not require as much time. Take all of this into account when estimating your testing time.

4.) As you play the game, take detailed notes about what works and what doesn't. These notes are what you'll base your final report on, so it's important that you write down everything you notice while playing. This includes your thoughts on the gameplay, the controls, the characterization, the storyline, the graphics, the music, pretty much everything the game has to offer. If any errors occur, it's very important to provide as many details as you possibly can. The programmers will want to know precisely what you were doing when the error occurred.

5.) If an error does occur, attempt to recreate it. While some errors are almost random or very rarely occur, some will happen every time the player does a specific action or triggers a certain event. If you can show that the error is repeatable, it will be very useful to the programmers. If you can't recreate it, mention that in your report as well.

6.) Write up the first draft of your report. Be sure to record everything you mentioned in your notes, and go into more detail if you can. There are several ways to organize your report. You may want to note any major errors right away, especially errors that caused the game to crash. You might then want to categorize items by level, game location, or even by category like game play, storyline, etc. The way you organize your report may vary from game to game or genre to genre.

7.) Finally, replay the game or parts of the game if you have time. You might not be able to work through the entire game again—you probably won't have time to replay a role playing game that takes 40 plus hours to play through, but you could replay the first few hours of it. If you have a good amount of time before your deadline, you might even want to set the game aside for a few days and then take a fresh look at it. You may notice something after stepping away from the game that you didn't notice the first time through. Once you've reviewed the game, re-read your report and make any changes necessary.