As a Quality Assurance tester in the mobile video games industry, I’ve learned the importance of efficient tools and good practices, here are some of them:
- Essential Tools:
- Jira: for managing tests, setting priorities and reporting bugs to the teams
- Google Sheets: nothing is better than the good and old spreadsheet when it comes to writing test cases, it’s simple and easy to read and share
- Hardware Emulators: if you don’t have a good collection of devices, use the Android and iOS emulators
- Unity Profiler: if you have access to the Unity project, the Profiler will help you better understand the moments and causes of performance drop in the game
- Best Practices:
- Test Planning: Don’t just test your game randomly, write test cases and set priorities!
- Regression Testing: a bug that has been solved 1 month ago could be back in the game, so you should always re-do old test cases
- Collaborative Approach: seek good communication with the whole team, don’t just throw bugs and tasks at them
- Learn a bit of everything: a person who can comprehend the basics of programming, design and arts will be better at reporting bugs and helping find solutions
Conclusion
By leveraging these tools and practices, QA testers can streamline testing processes, ensure product quality, and contribute to delivering exceptional gaming experiences.
Quality Assurance is often seen as an undesirable less-important job in the videogames industry, but the truth is that a good and dedicated tester will learn A LOT at work and contribute to key decisions in the game, earning just as much respect as any other team member.