Nintendo developer reveals crucial stage for games success

Without a doubt, developing a game is a complex journey with several important steps, and testing is one of the most significant. In fact, they can guarantee the success of big gameslike famous Nintendo titles.

Testing usually takes place both in the early stages of development, during demonstrations or in early access. From this, it is possible, for example, to identify flaws, bugs and possible design improvements.

Regarding this, Stephen ‘Mortdog’ Mortimer, director of Game Design at Riot Games and former Nintendo employee, shared a valuable lesson about choosing the right audience to test games.

Developer uses social media to explain game testing phase

In a series of posts on his X profile, the former Twitter, Mortimer shared a revealing story from when he was 22 years old and working on his first project at Nintendo‘Mario vs DK2: March of the Minis’.

When starting to test the game, Mortimer suggested recruiting friends and family to provide feedback. However, his boss disagreed with this approach.

She explained that children and experienced players might not offer genuine feedback as they would easily overcome the game’s challenges or be satisfied simply by playing.

So what would an ideal test look like? Thinking about this issue, Mortimer’s then boss suggested that 35-year-old mothers who didn’t play video games would be ideal for the tests.

This is because they would have a different perspective and highlight confusing or problematic areas of the game. Although initially surprised, Mortimer agreed to proceed this way.

Thus, subsequent tests confirmed the effectiveness of this choice, leading to significant improvements in game understanding.

Years later, while working as Head of Design on Riot Games’ League of Legends, Mortimer applied the same lesson when developing the game’s tutorials.

Even when one designer questioned the need to explain basic moves, testing revealed that most players needed such instructions.

The lesson about the importance of choosing the right audience for testing games has remained valid over the years, demonstrating relevance in challenging projects such as ‘League of Legends‘.