Just started beta testing and wonder about whether testers test every thing sent to them or only the kind of game they would play if they were buying.

If you are referring to beta testing the casual games where you only play a portion and give them feedback, they send out a bunch of them because they know they won't get them all back. Play what you can and if you are going to give negative feedback to a TM game because you don't like them, then I would skip those.

Ana

Yes, I'm referring to the casual games.
I wouldn't give a negative feedback simply because I didn't like the type of game, that would be silly, but only comment on the things that would be useful, such as bugs (assuming I could tell a bug from a puzzle) or quality of the graphics. Is that information enough to warrant testing?

YOu bet! Go for it!

Ana

How does one go about becoming a beta tester?

thracia

Gamezebo and BigFish have sign ups as do others. Let me see if I can find direct links.

On BigFish, you are automatically on the list to beta test if you are a club member. They send out 10K requests anmd have over a million members so you may just not have had your name pop up.
It is also done by your game history. If you buy TM games you will get asked to Beta one, if you buy HOGs only, you won't get asked to do a TM.

You can sign up at Gamezebo here.
They send out lots of requests of all kind,

Please remember if you post here on a beta you are doing and the game is not released, your post will be deleted. Betas are to be discussed only in the proper forum at the site you got it from.

Ana

Thanks for the info Ana.

thracia

I for the first time was asked to Beta Test Wedding Dash 4. It was nice participating.

Hey,

I'll add my few cents as a developer. There are usually two betas - open and closed one. In open beta you test only portion of the game and everyone can participate.

In closed beta selected few users from open beta are invited to test whole thing and share their thoughts (and report bugs) with the developer.

Who gets selected for closed beta? I can only tell how Codeminion and us did the selection for Brunhilda and the Dark Crystal beta. We invited people who gave us best feedback. And I don't mean positive feedback, but feedback that is comprehensive and rich in information. Very often we invite people who are not amused with the game. During the beta their feedback will be priceless because we aim to make the game better so they can love it ;-) Simply writing "cool game but lacking something" won't cut it - be more verbose, try explaining what is missing in your opinion. Describe your experience. And be very through.

Then again I know that some developers invite people who sugar coat their feedback. It makes lives easier when everyone just loves your game and there are no problems reported. But it sucks for the game in the long run.

You can sign up for Codeminion beta program here:

http://codeminion.com/en/beta_program/


Konstanty, TwinBottles

Hello Konstanty,

I find your few cents to be valuable to a beta tester. Thank you for taking the time to post here and for the invite to your beta program.

~ Carol