How do you design and execute effective test cases for game scenarios and mechanics?

1 Types of testing

Testing your game is essential to ensure its quality and performance, and the type of testing you use depends on the stage of development, scope, and objective. Unit testing is the lowest level and focuses on individual components like scripts or functions. It helps verify the logic and functionality of the code and identify bugs. Integration testing is the next level and tests how different components work together, such as scenes or assets. It checks compatibility and communication between elements. System testing is the highest level and evaluates performance, functionality, usability, reliability, and requirements. It tests the game as a whole as experienced by users. Tools like Unity Test Runner, NUnit, Unity Test Framework, TestComplete, Unity Performance Testing, and LoadRunner can be used to automate tests and run test cases in different scenarios.

2 Levels of testing

When testing a game, you can define different levels of testing based on complexity and detail. Smoke testing is the most basic level, where you test main features like launching, loading, saving, or quitting. This helps verify that the game is stable and identify major defects or crashes. Automation tools like Unity Cloud Build or Jenkins can be used for smoke testing. Sanity testing is a more focused level, where you test new features or functionalities that have been modified or added. This helps confirm that changes have not introduced new bugs or errors and the game still works as expected. Tools like Unity Test Tools or TestRail can be used for creating and executing sanity tests. Regression testing is a more comprehensive level, where you test the entire game or large parts of it to ensure changes haven't affected other features that were working before. Automation tools like Unity Test Studio or Selenium can be used to prevent any regression issues or side effects by running regression tests periodically.

3 Designing test cases

Designing effective test cases for game scenarios and mechanics requires following a set of steps and principles. You need to define the scope and objective of your test case, identify the test data and inputs, specify the test steps and actions, define the test criteria and outputs, and apply best practices and standards. Test data and inputs should be generated or obtained to cover different scenarios. Test steps and actions should be executed, recorded, and measured to compare with expected outcomes or results. Additionally, best practices and standards should be applied when writing clear and concise language, using naming conventions, creating test case templates, or using test case management tools.

4 Executing test cases

To successfully execute test cases for game scenarios and mechanics, you need to prepare the environment and resources, perform the test case, observe the results, analyze and report them, and review and improve the test case. This includes setting up and configuring the environment and resources, handling any errors or exceptions, verifying or validating the results, identifying any defects or issues, communicating them to developers or stakeholders, incorporating feedback or suggestions, and updating or modifying the test case.

5 Examples of test cases

To demonstrate how to design and execute effective test cases for game scenarios and mechanics, here are some examples of test cases for different types and levels of testing. For unit testing, a test case can be written to test the functionality of a script that controls the movement of a character in a platformer game. This would involve providing keyboard inputs for moving left, right, up, and down, then observing the character's movement on the screen. The test criteria should include the expected speed, direction, and animation of the character's movement. Integration testing involves creating a test case for testing the compatibility of a scene that contains multiple assets and elements in an adventure game. The test steps involve loading the scene and exploring it using the mouse and keyboard. The criteria should include the expected appearance, sound, and interaction of the assets and elements in the scene. System testing requires a test case for testing the performance of a game that involves multiple players and online servers in a shooter game. The test data includes the number of players, the network bandwidth, and the server load. The steps involve joining a game session and playing it for a certain duration. The criteria should include frame rate, latency, stability, and quality of the game session.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?