When should you start playtesting?
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
Start as soon as the core loop is playable, even in grey boxes with no art: that is when a test can still change the game cheaply. Each stage asks a different question: a prototype test asks whether the loop is fun; a vertical slice test asks whether a new player understands it; an alpha test asks about balance and pacing; a beta or demo test asks about bugs, performance and the first hour. Waiting until it looks finished means testing what is now expensive to change.
Every week you wait makes the answer more expensive
A playtest that finds the core loop is not fun is cheap in week three and devastating in month eighteen. Developers wait because the game does not look ready; but players judging a grey box are judging the thing that matters, the play.
What to test, stage by stage
- Prototype: is the core loop fun? Two or three testers, grey boxes, ten minutes.
- Vertical slice: does a new player understand it? Blind testers, the first fifteen minutes.
- Alpha: balance, pacing, difficulty curve, across hours of content.
- Beta or demo: bugs, performance on other machines, the first hour and the store page.
- After launch: updates, with players who already know the game.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay's AI plays and checks the game on every change from the first prototype, and playtest links put each stage in front of people the same day. Playtest links are free in beta until 1 December 2026.