The Importance of Testing in Mobile Games

Game testing is a very important aspect of a video game. Many levels of testing are done to ensure the game is functioning properly. A video game development company uses nearly 10% of its budget in game testing as per the game experts.

There are multiple factors that need to be considered before developing a game testing strategy which also includes the game platform the game is made for. Because the testing for mobile games has considerable differences when compared to PC and console platforms.

Here we will see about mobile game testing in detail.

What is Mobile Game Testing?

Mobile game testing is the process that identifies any bugs, technical glitches, or performance issues with the video game. Usually, the alpha game testing begins during the production phase and then moves to beta testing where all the major and minor bugs are resolved and the game will be moved to pre-launch.

How does Mobile Game Testing Differs From Other Gaming Platforms?

Each gaming platform has different specifications such as hardware requirements, software requirements, platform architecture, networking, and connectivity aspects.

There are many different gaming platforms apart from mobile devices such as PCs, consoles, web browsers, and tablets. All of these platforms have different specifications and hence they have different game testing methods. It does not mean the entire testing methods are different. Only a few tests are different depending on the gaming platform.

A mobile device has a smaller screen size, touch screen, lower resolution, limited storage capacity, and simpler controls. So when testing a game for a mobile device, the focus is on specific factors such as uninterrupted network connectivity, touch interface functioning, and battery consumption of the game.

Apart from that, mobile game apps are distributed on multiple devices with different OS and screen sizes. Hence, more time is taken by the game testers to test the game for various devices.

Additionally, mobile games have lower resolution than console games and they also have simple game mechanics. So testing mobile games is easier than consoles and PCs.

Importance of Mobile Game Testing

Mobile game testing is important to ensure a seamless and better gaming experience for the players. A mobile game development company ensures putting a game through multiple levels of testing to clear out all the major and minor bugs before it reaches the target audience.

But when you consider AAA open-world games, it is not possible to address all the bugs within the game. So the mobile game development company releases the game, collects feedback from the players, and works on the arising technical issues post-release.

There are certain important aspects that are focused on by testers when testing a mobile game. They are listed below.

1. User interface functionality which includes the UI layout, UI elements, menu structure and function, screen size, and screen resolutions.
2. The user experience of the game is tested to provide a seamless gaming experience to the players. Here, the user interaction and responsiveness of the game are tested to ensure smooth gaming.
3. Usability testing tests the navigation functions, platform compatibility, battery consumption, and how all these factors impact the player are tested.
4. Graphic performance is a very important aspect to test in a video game. As mobile games are released on different platforms, the video game graphics might have variations based on the platforms.
5. Multiplayer features – Games that have multiplayer features need to be tested for networking and connectivity functions. As players play on different platforms, there is a need to check if there are any networking issues, delays, or lags while connecting to servers.
6. Most of the games have social integration features where the players can socialize through Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. It is important to test if there are any connectivity issues that might arise during the gameplay.
7. Security testing checks if there are any underlying vulnerabilities, or risk factors in the game to ensure safe and secure gaming for the players.

Major Types of Mobile Game Testing

There are various types of testing. Here we have mentioned the major types of testing used to test mobile games.

Mobile load testing

Mobile Load testing is done to check if the game can handle the heavy load and function seamlessly without crashing. In this testing heavy load is applied to the game by game testers to test its functioning.

A/B testing

A/B testing also called split testing is a testing experiment done between two variants A and B which have different versions. It is done to test which variant performs better during the testing.

Compatibility testing

Compatibility testing is done to check if the game is compatible across different software and hardware configurations, as players play games on multiple platforms. The compatibility is also checked for controllers, Bluetooth, and AR/ VR devices.

Usability testing

Usability testing checks the playability of the game by analyzing the difficulty levels, control issues, and game mechanics. The main goal of this testing is to ensure that the players can understand and play the game intuitively.

Localization testing

Localization is the process where the game is optimized to be released for the local user. Hence, localization testing is used to check if the gameplay can offer a better user experience for the local user.

Security testing

Security testing is done to make sure the game does not have any vulnerabilities and ensure the protection of the player’s information from any cyber threats. Penetration testing, API security testing, and AST testing are some of the types of security testing.

Conclusion

Mobile game testing ensures a good quality gaming experience for the players. As mobile devices have different features and configurations, they have variations in testing methods when compared to other gaming platforms.

Most of the QA testing methods are the same for all games while there are certain specific tests that are mainly used in mobile game testing which include load testing, A/B testing, compatibility testing, usability testing, localization testing, and security testing.

SEE ALSO: AMD To Acquire AI Startup Nod.ai To Strengthen Software AI Capabilities