mobile game testing Archives - Testbytes Software

Gaming, be it mobile games, PC games or console games, is a multi-million dollar industry. Interesting as it sounds; testing video games is one of the most fascinating jobs every professional dream about. Hence, high-end level game testing is crucial to any game out there.

A well tested and executed game not only meets and exceeds the expectations of the player but also throws a lot of challenges towards the tester to make the game more interesting. It must also be tested for compatibility with the cross-platform without compromising on the player’s privacy and security.
Let us discuss some important things that you shouldn’t miss while testing a game.
1. Random Number Generator Evaluation (RNG)
Arguably the most important component for the gaming platform is the Random Number Generator, which determines the outcomes for a game. The component adds unpredictability to the game an maps its outcomes based on the user’s data.
The tester is expected to first identify the game algorithm to validate and verify the predefined rules of the game. The RNG must be adequately tested to avoid predictability which exists towards the outcome of a game.
2. Break the Game
Yes, you read that right. As a video game tester, you will have to find loopholes in your program by breaking it into parts. You want to root out any possibilities that might hinder the working of your game. For achieving this, you will have to be a little unconventional in playing and testing.
Games like VainGlory, which involves millions of combinations of player actions, will require you to interact with various objects and characters, with an endless sequence of the environment. Game testers must be keen in understanding these combinations and think outside the box.
3. Measure its Social Presence.
It wasn’t too back when Facebook introduced the first social media games. In 2013, with the launch of Wii U (and Miiverse that came with it), it was obvious that social media was going to play a crucial role in the Video Games industry. Today, video games are almost connected to every social media on the internet.

Must Read : 9 Different Types of Game Testing Techniques

Social media can act as a double-edged sword for the video game testers. If used intelligently, it can serve as a platform for bringing like-minded people together and in a close-knit community. So make sure that as a game tester you have to measure the proper social media presence which may bring some interesting demographics that your game is targetting.
4. Keep the Secrets.
Being a game tester, it is required that you honor the non-disclosure agreement and demonstrate the ability to keep secrets. Many times, a game tester posts an alpha version of the game which is in violation of the NDA. This might lead to cancelling the project and cutting the company’s losses.
If by any chance you happen to appear for an interview that asks you to describe a question regarding the security of its game, you may straight away refuse as it’s under the NDA.
5. Evaluating the Game Rules
Testing any video games requires you to verify the game environment and behaviour. It also includes the game texture, elements, stability and games messages. As a tester, you need to evaluate how every aspect of the game including how each one interacts with the other. This is often neglected by majority thinking these are issues beyond the development phase.

The game needs to be thoroughly evaluated to deliver maximum gaming experience for end user. Hence, the testing phase focuses on some crucial part and breakdown to achieve realistic game behavior.
Conclusion
No product is perfect without testing for the product to the launched in the market and it applies to video games testing as well. With the enormous network of games emerging in the market every day, your game has to be tested to see how it withstand real-time concurrent load before released. Game testing is done to achieve consistent performance across all hardware/software/platform/device combinations that your target audience might use.
Technology never stops evolving and the gaming industry is always at the forefront. Hence, when recruiting for a gaming tester, the employer usually specifies what he is looking for in the desired position. So if you have the passion for games and a good understanding of various testing methods, it isn’t difficult for you.

Have you ever considered how games are tested and released? The compelling mobile game testing system prompts a problem free and responsive gaming force to the end users.

The gaming business is evolving exponentially because of increment in applications utilization in mobiles. It is difficult to characterize a standard procedure for games testing techniques that should be custom-made as each game varies from each other. To begin with, aspects of Functionality and Usability must be analyzed.

Usability and Functionality testing are normal to a wide range of application testing. With the merging of the gaming and mobile technology, an exceptional and concentrated testing attempt is required.

Here we will specify how both the aspects work for mobile game testing.

Usability Tests

Humans are flawed. They may have bad eyesight or big fingers and tap the wrong key, misunderstand a command or pick the wrong interaction. All types of glitches will be found by your consistent application user thus you need to discover them before they do.

The usability test is performed for testing ease of use, navigation flow, and in the end, to check what sort of user experience your game has to offer. So, make sure that emulators and genuine mobiles are only used for testing. For instance, performance slowdowns are not at all difficult to uncover utilizing genuine devices. During the test, it checks interferences, how charger impacts to general performance and use, and battery consumption.

Also, to get the most ideal comprehension of how awesome usability and fun your game is offering ,it is vital to test the game for its execution as this will make either the positive or negative user encounter. These all significantly affect user experience – and greatly the user’s enjoyment level.

Apart from these fundamental purpose of Usability test is to

The buttons are set in a similar area of the screen to evade confusion to the end users.
The logical menus are not over-loaded since it must be utilized rapidly.
The app prompts the users whenever they begin downloading a lot of data which might be not favorable for the application execution.
The approval for the tapping zoom-in and zoom-out features ought to be equipped.
The app gives a strategy for undoing an action or going back, on touching the wrong thing, in an adequate time.

The rationale behind playing a game is only for fun reasons. Consequently, your games are relied upon to give entertainment along extraordinary user experience.Evaluating fun-factor demands some aesthetic imagination and critical thinking. Fun is conveyed just if every other part of the game cooperates accurately and it requires a great effort to achieve.

Thus, usability testing validates the effort and time needed so as to accomplish a specified activity and recognizes easily neglected mistakes. It includes user viewpoint testing, end-user interface testing, and user documentation testing.

Functional Tests

Functionality Testing is the most well-known type of game testing. Functional testing implies playing games to discover bugs.If done manually, it requires playing the game while the testing procedure is going on.It decides if the application is working as per the determinations.

Additionally, in some cases, automation is a reasonable choice in a few domains of functional testing.In the event that you comprehend your mobile application’s code, you can set up test automation system. Automated functional testing for mobile games can reveal issues identified with UI and graphics, game mechanism, integration of graphics resources, and resistance.

It’s a mind-boggling testing strategy under the classification of black box testing procedure. Sets aside more time to execute as analyzers search for graphics issues, game play problems, audio-visual issues, and so on. You have to get validations whether installation goes easily, the application works in limited mode, the application permits social media choices, supports payment portals, and much more.

The most crucial test situations in the functional testing can be considered to approve that

All the required obligatory fields are functioning as required.
The app goes into the minimized form if a user gets an incoming call.
The mobile can perform required multitasking prerequisites whenever it is important to do as such.
The installed app empowers different apps to perform thoroughly, and it does not feed into the memory of alternate apps.
The navigation between significant modules in the app is according to the prerequisite.
Perform Regression Testing to reveal new programming bugs in existing zones of a framework after changes have been made to them. Additionally, rerun earlier performed tests to confirm that the program manner hasn’t changed because of the changes.

While functional testing is dependably a fundamental action in mobile game testing strategy, the actual contrast between a successful mobile game and an average mobile game is realized by the significance given to the one of a kind characteristics and requirements of a mobile environment. Basically, end to end functional testing comprising of linear and non-linear action for your game is done to guarantee the executed functionality is free of bugs and uniform with your planned design.

Attributes:

Remembering the above goals, the game ought to have the accompanying attributes:

A complex or intriguing plot
Realistic graphics (including backgrounds, characters, and hardware) and sounds
Random plays to keep the player intrigued
Lesser known actualities to instruct the player
Facilitate players to manage as a team if it’s a multi-player game

Conclusion

Right from the starting phase, your prototype mobile game is out after generation, the testing steps start. The game designer’s part becomes dependent upon the prerequisites and proposals provided by the game tester. The project duties of a game tester are mostly divided into two parts: Firstly, identification and reporting of the game deformities.Secondly, assisting with its analyzing and verifying.

Once the game is made after passing these types of tests, it is sent to entertainment organizations like Electronic Arts, Sony, and Microsoft for their review and production. Lastly, on the permission of respective Censor sheets of the game, it is prepared to be commercially launched.

Tag: mobile game testing

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