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Independent Games Summit: Never Skip Playtest Day! Five Tips for Running Better Playtests

Mike Salyh  (Co-Founder, Coin Crew Games)

Wyatt Bushnell  (Co-Founder, Coin Crew Games)

Location: Room 2009, West Hall

Date: Tuesday, March 21

Time: 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass, Independent Games Summit Pass

Topic: Independent Games

Format: Lecture

Vault Recording: Video

Audience Level: All

Playtesting is the game dev equivalent of going to the gym: It strengthens a game's design but can be a bit painful, and it's tragically easy to neglect.

However, Mike Salyh and Wyatt Bushnell, Co-founders of Coin Crew Games, believe you should never skip playtest day! While developing Escape Academy, their team ran over 200 sessions, and used that data to make a debut indie game that Inverse called "the best co-op game since It Takes Two."

In this talk, Mike and Wyatt share how their studio put playtesting at the heart of their development process and offer solutions for running smoother, more efficient playtests.

Takeaway

Attendees will gain a better understanding of how to run more frequent and more impactful playtests, using real-world examples from the development of Escape Academy. Whether looking to start playtesting for the first time or improve existing protocol, this talk helps demystify the topic of playtesting.

Intended Audience

This is for game designers, producers, and creative executives, or players who want a more in depth understanding of "how the sausage gets made."