What Is Game Testing, Really? | 10 Days of Game Testing

10 Days of Game Testing — Day 1

What Is Game Testing, Really?

When I tested my first Unity prototype — a tiny 2D platformer made in a weekend jam — I remember one thing clearly: the “jump” felt wrong. Not broken, not crashing — but the player jumped like they were stepping through molasses. The designer said it felt ‘off’ but couldn't point to a reproducible bug. For the player, it was the difference between joy and frustration.

This post is my attempt to explain, in plain language, what game testing actually is, how it differs from regular software QA, and how to start testing games in a way that teams actually find useful. By the end you'll have a real checklist, a short reproducible test case (the jump mechanic), and the right mental model to approach your first game build.

Game Testing vs Software QA: The Short Version

At a glance, both disciplines share the same core goals: find reproducible problems, communicate them clearly, and help the product reach the highest possible quality for the intended users. But the differences matter:

• Subjectivity & Playability: Games are meant to be experienced. A bug that makes the interface “awkward” may or may not qualify as a defect depending on the design goals. Playtesting (qualitative feedback) sits beside functional testing.
• Emergent Behavior: Players will try things designers didn’t anticipate — sequence-breaking, physics exploits, creative uses of tools. Tests need to consider that unpredictability.
• Performance & Hardware variance: On PC and consoles, GPU, CPU, and driver differences change game behavior. On mobile, SoC, memory and OS versions matter a lot.
• Animation & Physics: Timing, framerate, and animation blending can produce “bugs” that aren’t crashes, but are gameplay-breaking (e.g., clipping through objects, character stuck in T-pose).

Roles in Game QA — Who Does What

In a studio you may see these roles:

• Functional Tester: Verifies mechanics, UI, menus, feature flows.
• Compatibility Tester: Validates different devices, controllers, GPUs, resolutions.
• Localization Tester: Checks translated text, UI scaling and cultural contexts.
• Playtester / QA Designer: Focuses on balance, fun factor, and play session reports.
• Compliance Tester: Prepares for platform certification (Sony/MS/Nintendo/Apple/Google).

Concrete Example — Testing the “Jump” Mechanic (Reproducible Test Case)

Below is a small, real-style test case you can use when testing a platformer or any jump-based mechanic. Use this to observe and document timing, responsiveness and edge cases.

Test Case: Player Jump Behavior

1. Build: Playable Alpha v0.2 (Windows, Unity build)
2. Prerequisites: Player character spawned in Safe Zone, default controller mapping (Spacebar / A button), gravity default settings.
3. Steps:
   1. Press the jump button once from a standstill. Observe jump height and time-to-apex.
   2. Hold the jump button: observe if there is variable jump height (charge) or not.
   3. Move and jump simultaneously (run + jump). Observe horizontal momentum and landing recovery frames.
   4. Jump while colliding with wall (wall-jump scenario). Observe stick/clipping behaviors.
   5. Reduce framerate to 30 FPS and repeat steps. Note differences.
4. Expected: Jump triggers within 50ms of input on target hardware; landing animation plays and collision is resolved without passing through ground geometry. Player regain control after landing within X frames.
5. Actual: Document observed values (jump height, input delay, frame skips) and attach a short recording if possible.

Tip: small video snippets are gold. Attach a short 10–15 second capture to bug reports showing the exact behavior.

How to Write Game Bug Reports (A Practical Template)

Game developers are overloaded. The clearer your report, the faster it gets triaged and fixed. Use this structure in your bug tracker:

Title: [Gameplay] Player passes through ground after double-jump (Win64, 60FPS)
Build: Alpha v0.2 - Build #124 (Unity 2024.2.1)
Steps to reproduce: 1. Spawn in Safe Zone. 2. Run forward and perform double-jump near chasm. 3. Observe player falling through ground on landing.
Expected: Player lands and play animation from 'landing' state.
Actual: Player passes through ground and falls to void (video attached).
Frequency: 3/5 attempts (intermittent).
Logs: Attach Unity player.log excerpt showing NullReference near CharacterController.OnCollision.
Severity / Priority: High / P1 (blocks play sessions).
Notes: Occurs more often when physics timestep = 0.02 and after rapid dash input.

Tools & Workflows for Game QA

Here are the tools you’ll find yourself using on day one:

• Unity / Unreal Editor logs — player.log, editor.log give you line numbers and stacks.
• Frame capture tools: Nvidia FrameView, OBS for short clips, GPU vendors' profilers.
• Device farm or in-house hardware lab: Real devices help catch compatibility issues (especially mobile).
• Build distribution: TestFlight (iOS), Google Play internal tracks, Steam depots.
• Network simulation: Tools that throttle latency, packet loss to reproduce multiplayer issues.

Playtesting vs Functional Testing (When to Use Each)

Playtesting: invite designers and players (not just testers) to play for a session, then capture open feedback. Use this when the game’s fun factor or balance is in question.

Functional testing: scripted sessions where you validate feature behavior against defined acceptance criteria (e.g., achievement unlock, inventory save/load).

Quick checklist — what to verify in a 30-minute session

• Game launches and proceeds to main menu without crash
• UI scales correctly for intended resolutions
• Primary mechanic (jump, shoot, dash) is responsive
• No visible clipping on main levels
• Audio triggers correctly on events (no stuttering)
• Save and load preserves state

Performance Basics — What Breaks the Experience

For players, framerate and input latency are often the most obvious quality signals. A stable 60 FPS on PC or 30 FPS on consoles/mobile with consistent frame times usually feels much better than a fluctuating 60→30→45 experience.

When you log performance problems, include:

• Average FPS, min FPS, 1% & 0.1% lows
• Memory usage (unexpected growth suggests leaks)
• GPU time and CPU frame time breakdowns
• Repro steps and whether changing graphics settings affects it

Compatibility Testing — Device Matrix Example

For mobile games, keep a small matrix with the following columns: Device model, OS version, GPU, RAM, Render API (OpenGL/Vulkan/Metal), Notes, Pass/Fail. Focus your first round on the most popular device families for your geo targets.

Localization & UI — Small text, big problems

A short string that fits in English may overflow or obscure buttons in German or Russian. Always test layouts with long text and right-to-left languages if the game supports them.

Certifications & Compliance

Platform holders (Sony, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Nintendo) each have certification checklists. Before a submission, run a pre-cert pass: look for fatal errors such as store integration failures, achievements not reporting, or critical crash reports.

How to Build a Simple Game QA Portfolio

If you’re starting, create a short portfolio with:

1. 3–5 bug reports (well-structured) — include a short video for each.
2. A device compatibility matrix screenshot.
3. A one-page testing plan showing your approach for a small build.

Common Pitfalls New Game Testers Make

• Sending vague bug reports (“it’s broken” without steps or videos)
• Assuming a crash is reproducible without isolating steps
• Ignoring platform-specific steps (controller vs touch)
• Not using the developer logs — many crashes have stack traces that point to the problem area.

Sample Sprint Plan for a Small Indie Build (1 week)

A practical plan for a one-week QA sprint on an indie milestone:

1. Day 1: Smoke tests and stability pass across target devices
2. Day 2–3: Functional feature testing (core mechanics)
3. Day 4: Regression pass on patched areas + compatibility quick checks
4. Day 5: Playtest session with 3 players + triage

Wrapping Up — Your First Actionable Steps

If you read nothing else: do these three things today:

1. Grab a short game build (even a jam game) and do the Jump Mechanic test case above — record a clip and write a single clear bug report.
2. Set up a tiny device matrix (3 devices: high, medium, low). Do a quick smoke test and record results.
3. Practice writing one actionable playtest note: what happened, who experienced it, and how you'd reproduce it.

Next: Day 2 — The Anatomy of a Game Build (covers builds, versioning, logging and distribution).

Download: Day 1 Checklist Ask me a question

© 2025 The Bugged But Happy

Tip: attach a short video to each bug report — it massively increases fix speed.