Examius
🌍 Game Development · subject
Game Development Game Testing and QA Syllabus
The Game Testing and QA syllabus for Game Development in full: 3 chapters and 9 topics, every one listed below, plus 60 Game Testing and QA flashcards with answers.
Game Testing and QA syllabus: all 3 chapters
Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.
-
Types of Testing
4 topics- Functional Testing
- Performance Testing
- Compatibility Testing
- Usability Testing
-
Bug Tracking
2 topics- Bug Tracking Systems
- Reporting and Documentation
-
Playtesting
3 topics- User Feedback
- Focus Groups
- A/B Testing
Game Development Game Testing and QA flashcards — 60 questions with answers
What is Functional Testing in game QA?
Testing that verifies each feature and mechanic of the game works according to its design specification and requirements — inputs produce the correct outputs and expected behavior.
What is the primary goal of Functional Testing?
To confirm that the game does what it is supposed to do — validating features, game logic, UI interactions, and adherence to requirements — by detecting deviations from expected behavior.
Distinguish black-box, white-box, and gray-box testing.
Black-box tests functionality without knowledge of internal code; white-box tests internal code structure/logic with full source knowledge; gray-box is a hybrid using partial internal knowledge to design black-box-style tests.
In functional testing, what is a test case versus a test suite?
A test case is a single set of inputs, execution conditions, and expected results verifying one behavior; a test suite is an organized collection of related test cases run together.
What is smoke testing in game QA?
A quick, shallow set of tests verifying that core/critical functions of a build work (e.g., the game launches and loads a level) before deeper testing — a 'build acceptance' check that decides if the build is stable enough to test.
What is regression testing and why is it important in game development?
Re-running previously passed tests after code changes to ensure new changes did not break existing functionality — crucial because game systems are highly interdependent and a fix in one area can introduce bugs elsewhere.
Define ad-hoc testing versus exploratory testing.
Ad-hoc testing is unstructured, informal testing with no plan or documentation; exploratory testing is simultaneous learning, test design, and execution guided by the tester's intuition but still purposeful and often loosely documented.
What is a soak (endurance) test in game QA?
Running the game continuously for an extended period (hours or days) to detect issues like memory leaks, resource depletion, counter overflows, or degradation that only appear over long play sessions.
What is Performance Testing in games?
Testing that measures how well the game runs under various conditions — evaluating responsiveness, stability, frame rate, memory usage, load times, and resource consumption to ensure smooth gameplay.
How is frame rate (FPS) defined, and give the relationship to frame time.
Frames per second is the number of rendered frames displayed per second. It relates to frame time as $$\text{FPS} = \frac{1000}{\text{frame time (ms)}}$$ so a 16.67 ms frame time yields 60 FPS.
What frame time in milliseconds corresponds to a target of 60 FPS?
$$t = \frac{1000\ \text{ms}}{60} \approx 16.67\ \text{ms per frame}$$
What frame time corresponds to 30 FPS and to 120 FPS?
$$t_{30} = \frac{1000}{30} \approx 33.33\ \text{ms}, \qquad t_{120} = \frac{1000}{120} \approx 8.33\ \text{ms}$$
What is average FPS over a session with $n$ frames?
$$\text{FPS}_{avg} = \frac{n}{\sum_{i=1}^{n} t_i}$$ where $t_i$ is each frame's time in seconds; equivalently the total frame count divided by total elapsed time.
Why is '1% low FPS' (or frame-time percentiles) used instead of only average FPS?
Average FPS hides stutter; the 1% low (the worst 1% of frames) exposes hitches and inconsistency that hurt perceived smoothness, giving a better measure of the actual play experience.
What is a memory leak, and how does performance testing detect it?
A memory leak is memory allocated but never freed, causing usage to grow over time until performance degrades or the game crashes. It is detected via profiling and soak tests that watch for steadily rising memory that never returns to baseline.
Distinguish CPU-bound from GPU-bound performance in a game.
CPU-bound means the CPU (logic, physics, AI, draw calls) limits the frame rate; GPU-bound means the graphics processor (shading, fill rate, resolution) is the bottleneck. Profiling identifies which by comparing frame time spent on each.
What is load-time testing, and why does it matter?
Measuring the time taken to start the game, load levels, or stream assets. It matters because long loads harm user retention and may indicate inefficient asset streaming or I/O bottlenecks.
What is stress testing in game QA?
Pushing the game beyond normal operating limits (e.g., max entities on screen, thousands of concurrent players, huge save files) to find the breaking point and observe how gracefully it fails.
What is Compatibility Testing?
Verifying that the game runs correctly across the intended range of hardware, operating systems, drivers, screen resolutions, input devices, and platforms.
What is a hardware/device matrix in compatibility testing?
A grid mapping combinations of devices, OS versions, GPUs, resolutions, and configurations against test cases, used to plan and track coverage across the supported target environments.
Show the other 40 Game Testing and QA flashcards
Differentiate forward compatibility from backward compatibility.
Backward compatibility means new hardware/software can run older games or content; forward compatibility means older systems can handle content/formats designed for newer versions (often gracefully ignoring unknown parts).
Why is testing across multiple aspect ratios and resolutions part of compatibility testing?
UI elements can be clipped, stretched, or misaligned and gameplay-relevant view areas can differ across resolutions/aspect ratios (e.g., 16:9 vs 21:9), so each supported ratio must be verified for correct layout and no advantage/disadvantage.
What is peripheral/input compatibility testing?
Verifying the game correctly detects and responds to different input devices — keyboard/mouse, various gamepads, touch, and specialty controllers — including remapping, hot-swapping, and correct button prompts.
Why is minimum vs recommended spec testing important in compatibility QA?
To confirm the game is playable at the stated minimum hardware specs and performs well at recommended specs, ensuring the published requirements are accurate and the experience scales appropriately.
What is Usability Testing in games?
Evaluating how easy, intuitive, and enjoyable the game is for players to learn and use — focusing on controls, UI/UX, onboarding, and the overall player experience rather than functional correctness.
Name key metrics captured in usability testing.
Task success/completion rate, time on task, error rate, number of help requests, and subjective satisfaction — plus qualitative observations of confusion or frustration.
How is task success rate calculated in usability testing?
$$\text{Success rate} = \frac{\text{tasks completed successfully}}{\text{total tasks attempted}} \times 100\%$$
What is the difference between usability testing and playtesting?
Usability testing focuses on whether players can operate and understand the game (controls, UI, clarity); playtesting focuses on whether the game is fun and well-balanced (enjoyment, difficulty, pacing). They overlap but have different goals.
What is the 'think-aloud' protocol in usability testing?
A method where participants verbalize their thoughts, expectations, and confusion while playing, letting observers understand the reasoning behind their actions and locate points of friction.
What roughly is Nielsen's guideline on the number of usability test participants needed to find most problems?
About 5 users per test round typically uncover roughly 85% of usability problems; running several small rounds is more effective than one large round.
What is a heuristic evaluation in usability testing?
An expert-based method where evaluators inspect the interface against a set of recognized usability principles (heuristics) to identify problems, without needing end-user participants.
What is a Bug Tracking System?
A software tool (e.g., Jira, Bugzilla, Mantis) used to record, categorize, assign, prioritize, and monitor defects throughout their lifecycle from discovery to resolution.
List common fields in a bug report.
ID/title, description, steps to reproduce, expected result, actual result, severity, priority, build/version, platform/environment, reproducibility, assignee, status, and attachments (screenshots/logs/video).
Describe the typical bug lifecycle states.
New → Assigned → In Progress/Open → Fixed → Ready for Test → Verified/Closed; with branches for Reopened (fix failed), Deferred, Duplicate, and Rejected/Won't Fix/Not a Bug.
Differentiate bug severity from priority.
Severity measures the technical impact of the defect on the system (e.g., crash vs cosmetic); priority measures the urgency of fixing it relative to schedule/business needs. A high-severity bug can be low priority and vice versa.
Give examples of severity levels from highest to lowest.
Critical/Blocker (crash, data loss, game unplayable) → Major/High (major feature broken, no workaround) → Moderate/Medium (feature impaired, workaround exists) → Minor/Low (small issue) → Trivial/Cosmetic (typo, minor visual).
What makes steps to reproduce (STR) effective in a bug report?
They are clear, numbered, minimal, and deterministic so anyone can follow them to reliably recreate the bug — including preconditions, exact inputs, and the build/environment used.
What is a regression bug versus a reopened bug in tracking systems?
A regression bug is a previously working feature that broke due to new changes; a reopened bug is one marked fixed that verification proved is still present, so it is returned to the developer.
What is the purpose of Reporting and Documentation in QA?
To communicate testing status, coverage, defects, and quality risks to stakeholders and to create a durable record enabling reproducibility, traceability, and informed release decisions.
What is a test plan?
A formal document defining the scope, objectives, approach, resources, schedule, environments, entry/exit criteria, and deliverables for the testing effort.
What is a test summary (test closure) report?
A document produced at the end of a test cycle summarizing what was tested, results, defect statistics, coverage, outstanding risks, and a recommendation on release readiness.
Define defect density and give its formula.
The number of confirmed defects per unit size of the product (e.g., per KLOC or per feature): $$\text{Defect density} = \frac{\text{number of defects}}{\text{size (KLOC or module count)}}$$
Define Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE) and its formula.
The proportion of defects found before release relative to all defects: $$\text{DRE} = \frac{D_{\text{pre-release}}}{D_{\text{pre-release}} + D_{\text{post-release}}} \times 100\%$$
What is test coverage, and give a basic formula.
The degree to which testing exercises the product. A common form: $$\text{Coverage} = \frac{\text{items tested}}{\text{total items}} \times 100\%$$ (items may be requirements, code lines/branches, or features).
What is a traceability matrix?
A document mapping requirements to their corresponding test cases (and defects), ensuring every requirement is tested and enabling impact analysis when requirements change.
What is User Feedback in the context of game QA?
Information gathered directly from players — via surveys, reviews, forums, in-game reports, and telemetry — about their experience, problems, and preferences, used to guide fixes and design improvements.
Differentiate qualitative from quantitative user feedback.
Qualitative feedback is descriptive/subjective (comments, interviews, open-ended survey answers) revealing why; quantitative feedback is numeric/measurable (ratings, telemetry, completion rates) revealing how much or how many.
What is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and how is it computed?
A loyalty metric from a 0–10 'how likely to recommend' question: $$\text{NPS} = \%\,\text{Promoters} - \%\,\text{Detractors}$$ where promoters score 9–10, passives 7–8, and detractors 0–6; the score ranges from $-100$ to $+100$.
What is a Focus Group in game development?
A moderated small-group discussion (typically 6–10 target players) gathering guided qualitative opinions and reactions about a game's concept, features, art, or experience.
Give one advantage and one limitation of focus groups.
Advantage: rich, interactive qualitative insight and group discussion revealing attitudes and reasoning. Limitation: results can be biased by dominant participants or groupthink and are not statistically representative of the whole player base.
How does a focus group differ from a usability test?
A focus group elicits opinions and attitudes through discussion (often about concepts, before or without hands-on play); a usability test observes individuals actually playing to measure how well they can use the game.
What is A/B Testing in games?
A controlled experiment comparing two variants (A = control, B = variant) by randomly splitting users between them and measuring which produces better results on a chosen metric (e.g., retention, conversion, click-through).
What is the role of a control group and randomization in A/B testing?
The control group receives the existing/unchanged version as a baseline; random assignment of users to groups removes selection bias so any measured difference can be attributed to the change rather than to differing user populations.
What is statistical significance in A/B testing, and what does a p-value represent?
Statistical significance indicates a result is unlikely due to random chance. The p-value is the probability of observing a difference at least as extreme as measured if the null hypothesis (no real difference) were true; commonly $p < 0.05$ is treated as significant.
What is conversion rate in an A/B test, and how is lift calculated?
Conversion rate is $\frac{\text{conversions}}{\text{users in variant}}$. Relative lift of B over A is $$\text{Lift} = \frac{CR_B - CR_A}{CR_A} \times 100\%$$
Why is adequate sample size important in A/B testing?
Too small a sample yields unreliable results with high variance and cannot detect real differences; a sufficient sample gives enough statistical power to distinguish a true effect from random noise for the desired significance and effect size.
What is multivariate testing and how does it differ from A/B testing?
Multivariate testing varies multiple elements simultaneously to evaluate combinations and interaction effects, whereas A/B testing compares two whole variants differing (ideally) in a single change. Multivariate needs much larger samples.
What is a hypothesis in an A/B test, and give an example?
A testable prediction stating an expected effect of a change on a metric. Example: 'Changing the tutorial button color to green (B) will increase day-1 retention compared to the current blue (A).'
What is 'severity triage' in bug tracking, and who typically performs it?
The process of reviewing incoming bugs to assign/adjust severity and priority and decide which to fix in which build — typically done in a triage meeting by leads, producers, QA, and developers together.
What distinguishes verification from validation in QA?
Verification asks 'are we building the product right?' (conformance to specification); validation asks 'are we building the right product?' (does it meet user needs and expectations). Functional tests verify; usability/playtesting validates.
Game Development Game Testing and QA FAQ
What is in the Game Development Game Testing and QA syllabus?
Game Development Game Testing and QA is split into 3 chapters: Types of Testing, Bug Tracking and Playtesting. Together they contain 9 topics.
How many chapters are in Game Development Game Testing and QA?
3 chapters, containing 9 topics. The largest chapter is Types of Testing, with 4 topics.
Are there flashcards for Game Development Game Testing and QA?
Yes — a 60-card Game Testing and QA deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.