Retention playtesting
Don't let your players get away
What determines whether your players will come back to play? We can assess how the player experience develops over multiple play sessions with mobile testing methodologies that mimic real-life gaming patterns.
These products are best for retention playtesting:
Surveys
Quantitative survey questions are great for examining how player opinion about your game changes as they continue to play.
Longitudinal Playtest
Observe multiple player interactions with your game over a period of time, with approximate set intervals between sessions.
Multi-session playtest
Allow players to engage in a set number of play sessions, which means they can choose when and how often to return to the game.
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When is this most useful?
This form of playtesting is best suited to having a relatively polished build that includes some retention or metagame features; it can also help you gain an understanding of your churn and retention patterns when the game is live.
Typical Uses
The findings from retention playtests could help you to answer the following research questions, along with others tailored to your game and current requirements:
Do boredom, frustration and/or confusion set in during the first week?
If so, exactly when and where do these issues start to set in, and what is their source?
Do players feel that there is enough content to keep them engaged?
Do players anticipate that the game would hold their attention?
Are players engaging with metagame concepts and mechanics, and are they easily understood?
Follow-up Questions
Try to specify the minimum session lengths that you think will mimic how real players will play your game. If your game thrives on players completing daily goals in a short period of time, use shorter sessions; for games that target longer play sessions (for example, strategic multiplayer games where matches can last 5-10 minutes) use longer sessions.
You have two options here:
First is to carry out a qualitative-only study of player experience over the course of multiple days/play sessions, where you will analyze each player video in depth over the entire testing period.
The second option is to recruit more players and rely primarily on quantitative survey data. This option provides robust quantitative data and enables you to assess player appreciation of your game.
Yes! This works really well. Here you will analyze your survey data for all players across all study days/sessions to assess appreciation issues, and to analyze a subset of your player videos and assess usability issues.
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