The 10 SECRETS to making BETTER games!

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The 10 SECRETS to making BETTER games!

Code Monkey 06.05.2026 4 914 просмотров 329 лайков

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Intro

Hello and welcome. I'm your [ __ ] McKe. So, here are the top 10 mistakes that play testing reveals. If you're trying to publish your games, this is insanely important. You definitely do not want to launch your game and all of a sudden you have a ton of negative reviews that could have been avoided. Like I wrote here, one of the most valuable things in game development is simply watching players interact with your game and seeing where they struggle. So, not guessing, not assuming, actually watching. That is why play testing is so crucial. Keep in mind how as a developer you yourself basically have the curse of knowledge as you are building your game for literally hundreds maybe even thousands of hours. As you do that every system that you build for your game everything seems very straightforward because again you built it you spend literally hundreds or thousands of hours with it. But for a completely brand new player they will not have all that context. So things that seem insanely obvious to you will not be obvious to those players. And the only way that you know what is or isn't obvious is by doing that is by doing a ton of play tests. And over here, one dev on Reddit wrote about what they learned from play testing over 22 indie games. And the interesting part is how these same issues kept showing up over and over again across completely different games. Meaning how if you pay attention to this, you will pretty much by default be ahead of all these other games that don't focus on play testing, that don't actually try to fix these things. So if you do, your game will be better by default. So here are the 10 lessons. So first of all, animated main menus make a bigger difference than you think. And this is definitely one that can be easily overlooked by many developers, whilst at the same time being something that is so easy to fix. So just by reading this, just by being aware of this quote unquote problem, you can

Why playtesting is crucial

instantly go ahead and fix it and your game will instantly jump up a few points. Basically, a static main menu is the easiest thing to build, but it immediately signals unfinished to the player. And that is absolutely the case. Most games, or rather I should say most beginner games, usually they really just have like the game logo, then a play button, a quit button, and that's it. That is definitely very boring, very bare bones. So any player that instantly loads your game and sees that sees it all very static, they will not have very good first impression. And as you might know, first impressions are insanely important. So if you can improve that first impression through just a little bit of work, then that is very much an easy win. Feeling like you wrote even a simple particle system on a loop or a subtle floating element adds life to the first thing your player sees. It set the tone even before they press start. So if that's you, if that's your game right now, if you just have literally just a start menu, just a very

Rule #1: Menus and first impressions

sad thing. If so, go ahead, pause this video right now and take 10 minutes just to add something animated. That one thing alone will massively improve the first impression that the players have of your game. And number two, if you support both controller and keyboard, your tutorial needs to reflect both. This is another very crucial thing. If you do add controller support, which by the way, you probably should. As long as your game is doable, as long as it works with that, as long as you don't have to basically remake the whole game, you definitely should do this. There are a ton of players that really like playing on a gamepad. And if you make your game playable on the gamepad, as a bonus, it is also playable on the Steam Deck, which again is also a pretty big user base. I think they have sold something like 5 million units. So, it is definitely a sizable chunk. And thankfully nowadays, adding support for controllers is actually pretty easy if you're using the input system, which you probably should be using because the input manager is actually going away in a little bit. So, yep, if you use this, then it makes controller support so much easier. So, I definitely recommend that you add controller support to your game.

Rule #2: Controller support in tutorials

The only excuse is basically if you're making a game kind of like door fortress something with an insane amount of menus that would be pretty much a nightmare to make it playable on a gamepad. If that's the case then sure maybe not. Although even that case I would encourage you to do it just because you can't actually have a virtual mouse. So even if your game is very mouse driven like for example my own game then guardians that is very much an automation management game. So it is very mouse driven but by using a virtual cursor in the UI because that I was able to basically make every single UI that was initially designed for mouse actually work with the gamepad. So, if you should support controller with your games, and if you do that, then of course, your tutorial needs to reflect both. So, if the player is using an Xbox controller, don't show them keyboard inputs. That does not make any sense. Or at the same time, if they're using an Xbox controller, show them actual Xbox lips. So, A, B, and so on, as opposed to showing, for example, PlayStation gives. Again, the input system makes it super easy. You can just see what is the type of game pad that is currently connected, and using that either show one type or another type. Then, lesson number three, don't ship broken levels even in demos. For some

Rule #3: No broken levels (even in demos)

people, this might be obvious, but I feel that for a lot of people, this actually not obvious. There are a ton of games on every single Nexfest that they launch with a halfbroken demo. And the excuse is, oh, this is just a demo, so I'm going to include this even if it is halfbroken. And the advice, definitely don't do that. Definitely make sure everything that your player actually sees is as high quality as you can make it. Of course, it makes sense that it won't be as high quality if it's a demo, if you're still actively working on it. But within that context, definitely make sure you don't publish something that is actually literally broken. If it is broken, then cut it out. It is much better to have a demo that only has, let's say, 20 minutes of gameplay as opposed to something that technically has 1 hour of gameplay. But in reality, after the 30 minutes, everything is just janky and broken. When in doubt, go for something shorter where the player actually has a better experience. Then number four, put your game's name on the

Rule #4: Main menu with game name

main menu. And this one is actually quite interesting. So over here sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised. And I am definitely surprised. Honestly, I think this might be actually very important during the demo stage. So, if you are on Next Fest, because I'm guessing quite a lot of players, they actually go on to NextFest and then literally just download 100 demos or whatever it is and then once they go to play them, they might actually forget. Okay, what was this game about? What was the name? I'm guessing that's the thing cuz otherwise, yeah, I can't imagine forgetting to put the game's name on the main menu. But if that's you, then I guess go ahead, pause this video, take 3 minutes, and add the logo on your main menu. And number five, don't ignore

Rule #5: Don’t ignore major bugs

major bugs because you think players won't notice. This is another one that is probably quite obvious. So if you know something is broken, fix it before you push it out. But more important is how play testing before releasing publicly is one of the best things you can do. Fresh eyes catch things you stop seeing. So again goes back to how crucial play testing is. Players play games in different ways. So you yourself as developer might play your own game in a specific way and everything works, no bugs. But then someone else might actually play a different way. They click different buttons. They interact with objects from different positions and all of a sudden everything breaks. And if you don't do play testing, you won't know that happens. and when you launch them or the game, you'll just get a ton of negative reviews. So once again, make sure you play test your game to try to avoid all those issues. Then number six, really interesting one. So too little content and too much content are both problems. This is a very

Rule #6: Balance your game’s content

important one and honestly it is one that I think a lot of beginners make a big mistake and I'm saying this as myself when I was a beginner I think I did make that mistake as well which is a mistake of thinking that by default you should go on the edge of going for too much as opposed to too little and that I'm pretty sure is actually a mistake. Ideally, obviously won't have the perfect amount of content, but if you don't know where you are, if you are leading towards any of those two extremes, I would definitely go towards the fewer content as opposed to the more content. Players will always prefer a shorter experience that is really great as opposed to one that is really just padded out with a ton of unnecessary busy work. One example is a short hike. This game is overwhelmingly positive. And this one is literally, I think, just one hour of content. That's it. It is a very, very small game, but everything that it has is very good. So players like it, they love it. They leave a positive review and they are left wanting more, which is something that you definitely want. You definitely want your players to be left wanting more as opposed to quitting your game because, okay, this is way too much. I don't want to do all this busy work, so I'm going to quit. And again, this is another thing that you also learn through play testing. As a developer, you yourself are probably going to go through your game very, very quickly just because you already know exactly how everything works. So if you go through your game, you might be able to go from start to finish in, let's say, 5 hours. But a beginner, someone who has never actually played your game before, those same five hours of gameplay might actually take them like 15 or 20 hours. So always keep that in mind. You as a developer are probably going to play your game much faster than regular player. So if you're going for a short game, kind of like in the incremental genre, if it's something that you as a developer can play for about 1 to two hours, chances are that it's already more than enough. Chances are a player will take 7 to 10 hours, which for this specific genre, that is a perfect amount of gameplay.

Rule #7: Earning punishing mechanics

Then number seven, punishing mechanics need to be earned. This is a very interesting one. It definitely is one of those where it kind of depends on what kind of game you're trying to give experience you're trying to give your players. Is it something that is meant to be intentionally frustrating and punishing? Or is that actually a design flaw? So here this developer says, I played a game where one mechanic served as both health and energy. Then a new block was introduced that instantly killed you regardless of how much health you had. It felt arbitrary and unfair. Difficulty is good, but players need to feel like failure was their fault, not the games. This is the reason why a lot of Souls like games actually end up failing is because they forget that the reason why these games are actually good is because you if you fail on these games for the most part it is because you did something wrong. I mean there's the famous let me solo her clip which yep basically one developer literally no armor nothing literally just using player skill was able to defeat the boss. So that tells you okay the game is made where player skill is basically the most thing most important thing what matters most making sure that the player actually has agency on whether they win or lose the game. That is a super important thing. Unless of course you're making an intentional rage bait game. Although even in those cases, the players that do play this, they are okay with being insanely angry with things that are unfair. But at the same time, they do hope that as they improve their own skills, they can actually reach the end. Then number eight, if a mechanic is not fun to play, it does not matter how

Rule #8: Mechanics must be fun

good it sounds. That is yet another very crucial thing. How you as a developer, you might be enamored by this kind of game idea, mechanic that you came up with, but upon implementing, you might realize that it doesn't actually fit in the game. So then you basically have two options. You can stick with it and just leave the mechanic in because you really worked hard on it and because you really like it or you take it out because you can see, okay, this is not good. I really wanted it to be good, but it's not good. That is basically where the phrase kill your babies or kill your darlings comes from. It is how even if you really love this game mechanic, this game idea. If it doesn't work, then just cut it because you yourself as developer, you might be really attached to this. So because you can overlook those flaws but a player won't be someone unemotional that does not have that connection with that specific game idea. So they will analyze your game very much objectively or more objectively than you which in turn if it is a negative thing on the game. If so the players will then not enjoy it. They will give you a negative view that will not be fun. So if a mechanic is not fun to play it does not matter how good it sounds. Then number

Rule #9: Always include a tutorial

nine always include a tutorial no matter how simple the mechanic seems. This is another one that seems obvious but definitely for some games it is apparently not obvious. However, a tutorial does not mean just text. So, that is basically lesson number 10, which is one of text tutorials are just

Rule #10: Don’t just use text tutorials

as bad as no tutorial. The obvious classic lesson example is Super Mario Bros. 1. So, this is basically tutorial without any text, nothing. It is really just very clever level design. Basally teaches a player how to play the game. So, ideally, this is the kind of tutorial that you should make, but obviously some games are pretty complex. Some games can't really be taught just like this. And for those, I really recommend you use the video player component. This one basically allows you to play some kind of video directly inside your game. So this is really awesome when it comes to tutorials. It is what I wrote here. So your goal with the tutorial is to show not tell that is always going to be much better. So one, make sure your game has tutorials so the player actually knows how to play the game. Make sure you give some optional hints because not everyone learns in different ways. Some people might learn how to play your game very quickly while others need a few more hints. So also keep that in mind. Not every player learns at the same scale. And importantly with that tutorial, make it as visual as possible as mechanic as possible as opposed to being a giant wall text. So, if these are 10 great lessons and like I wrote here, these are the kind of lessons that showcase why play testing is so insanely valuable. After working on a game for months or years, you are way too familiar with your own game. So, your brain cannot comprehend what a completely fresh look into your game looks like. You know where everything is. You know what every button does. You know what the player is supposed to understand, but the player does not have that context. So, they

Why fresh eyes are game-changing

will get confused by things that you seem impossible to miss. So use this as a reminder to get fresh eyes on your game as early as possible. Not just once, but constantly. Watch people play. See where they hesitate. See what they ignore. See what they misunderstand. Because very often you can messily improve how much a player likes your game by just not making these mistakes. One of the best but also somewhat frustrating things is when you publish your game and hopefully you have some kind of YouTuber, some kind of streamer playing your game. It is really awesome to watch someone play your game, but at the same time, it is really painful when it seems like something seems so obvious to you, but all of a sudden it is not obvious to that player. That is why play testing is so important. And importantly, watching people play test your game. If you can do that, that is the best option of all. If you can't, then sure, just get some analytics. Just get something. But if you can watching someone play your game, even better if you're actually in real life standing behind them watching them because people definitely say quite a lot of things through body language. So if you can watch someone play, that will help you out so much. So I highly encourage you to get play testers to play your game. No matter how much you try to focus on this problem yourself, you can never see the game from fresh eyes. So get lots of play testers, get them early and get them often. Start with friends and family. Then look on various Reddits or Discords for more. Maybe look into Seam's play testing system and finally publish a free demo that is already super polished. So yep, this is the

Best ways to get playtest feedback

rough guideline that you should follow. So first you start with friends and family. Just ask them, okay, I made this kind of game. can you help me play it just so I can see how does someone completely new play my game. Then after that you move a little bit outside so there are a bunch of subreddits or discords where you can find people to play your game. So go through those to get a bit more unfamiliar feedback. Then maybe steam play testing. That one can also be interesting. I believe you have to actually invite people so it can be a little bit more tricky but still for the third step that sounds good. And finally if you go through all these friends and family Reddit and see play testing if you go through all those hopefully your demo is already insanely well published. So that is when you finally publish a free demo on Steam. That opens it up to literally anybody who wants to play. So you get a bunch more feedback over there. Then you keep publishing that demo. And once it is super polished, once all the feedback is very positive, then you go on to NextFest. Then once again, it gets exposed to a ton more players, you get a ton more feedback, you improve the game a lot more. And after all that work, you finally get it ready for release. And if you do all that work, hopefully the game will be generally awesome so you can have a really successful launch. If you want to escape tutoter to turn hell or level up your own skills, then check out my gamedev practice lab. This is a hands-on practice program meant for both beginners, intermediates, where you

Publishing a polished demo

actually apply what you're learning, there are weekly game mechanic challenges where I give you the starting project files and a set of objectives that you must do in order to complete. Doing this really force you to do, which in turn really forces you to actually learn as opposed to just blindly watching videos where you don't really learn anything. So, if you do want to

Final thoughts & outro

level up your skills, if you want to start doing instead of just watching, if so, then check out my game dev practice lab with a link in the description. All right, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.

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