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Why playtest? Play together, and help make games great.
Playtests are free early builds developers share to find out what's fun, what's broken and what's confusing. It's a fun way to discover games, help the people making them, and share what you find.
🚀 Early access
Try games while they're still being made, usually free — great to jump into with friends.
🗣️ Real influence
Small teams read feedback closely. Your report can change balance, features and difficulty.
💎 Hidden gems
Discover lovely games you might have missed, then share them with your friends and community.
Quick tips for feedback devs love
- Be specific: what you did, what happened, where (level, menu, timestamp).
- Share feelings, not just bugs: "I got bored around the second boss" is gold.
- One issue per report so it can be tracked and fixed.
- Include specs (PC/Deck, GPU, OS) for crashes and performance.
- Be kind and honest: say what you loved too, so they keep it.
What playtesters changed
Real, documented examples from testing and early access. Sources open in a new tab.
Hades (Supergiant Games)
During Early Access, Supergiant noticed frequent player requests for more ways to earn gems and added them, and the team credits feedback with making the game bigger.
Source: PC Gamer ↗Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Larian's Early Access Patch 3 added rewards for avoiding combat and other design changes it said were inspired by player feedback and discussion.
Source: Larian — Community Update #11 ↗Slay the Spire (Mega Crit)
Early Access players found the first Daily Climb mode too hard and not fun, so the designer reworked it around interesting modifiers instead of extra difficulty.
Source: PC Gamer ↗Slay the Spire — enemy intents
Early testers were confused by how little the game told them about enemies, which led Mega Crit to add the 'intents' system that shows what foes plan to do.
Source: Ars Technica ↗Deep Rock Galactic (Ghost Ship Games)
Ghost Ship's lead designer said community and Experimental Branch testers drastically cut production time on a major weapon overhaul and sped up weapon balancing.
Source: Game Developer (GDC 2023 talk) ↗FAQ
What is a game playtest?
A playtest is an early, usually free, test build of a game that developers share so players can try it and report what works and what doesn't before launch.
Are Steam playtests free?
Yes. Steam Playtests are free to request and play; you only need a free Steam account. Some are open to everyone, others invite a limited number of players.
Does my feedback actually change anything?
Often, yes. Developers of games like Hades, Baldur's Gate 3, Slay the Spire and Deep Rock Galactic have publicly described changes they made based on player feedback during testing and early access.
How do I write useful playtest feedback?
Be specific about what happened and where, describe how it felt, keep one issue per report, and include your hardware for crashes or performance problems.