Indie game playtesting, explained.
Find playtesters for your indie game, understand player feedback, and ask your community useful questions.
What is Firstplay?
Firstplay is the indie game playtesting marketplace at theplaytest.io. Game developers fund individual playtest reward budgets and receive written player feedback. Adult testers apply to suitable games, complete the agreed brief, and earn rewards for approved work.
How do I get my indie game playtested?
Create a verified Firstplay profile, post a playable game with its platform, brief, session length and questions, then choose rewards and tester slots. After successful funding, review applicants or invite relevant testers, confirm hires, and read their written feedback in your workspace. You can also share a profile or hire a tester directly from their profile: choose an existing game or add one privately, set the reward and brief, then fund a one-off offer without a public listing. The tester has seven days to accept. A listing, invitation or offer does not guarantee participation.
How much does a playtest cost?
Firstplay adds a 15% platform fee to the tester reward budget. For example, five $20 rewards require a $100 reward budget plus a $15 fee, totaling $115. Review the current server quote before funding. New paid work depends on current service availability and eligibility.
What feedback do game developers receive?
Testers answer whether they would wishlist the game, play again, understood its goals, found the controls intuitive, and encountered technical problems. Each yes/no answer has a written explanation of at least 30 words in 2–3 sentences. Creator-specific questions follow the same explanation requirements. Submitted game feedback is private to the participants and authorized administrators.
Can indie developers create free polls?
A creator can post free text, image or video polls for an owned game that has been successfully funded and published at least once. The listing can now be closed. Polls have 2–6 labeled choices, verified members vote once for free, and aggregate results remain available on the game page.
How do playtesters get paid?
Adult testers in supported payout countries complete Stripe-hosted verification before applying to paid work. Accepted testers normally have seven days to submit feedback. The creator reviews the work, and eligible submissions automatically approve after seven days unless a correction or timely dispute pauses review. Approval, reward transfer, available balance and bank payout are separate states.
What happens if a playtest needs a correction or has a dispute?
A creator may request one specific correction tied to the original brief. The tester normally has seven days to respond; resubmission starts a final seven-day review period. A timely work dispute pauses automatic approval and release for administrator review. Honest negative opinions are valid feedback, not by themselves evidence of incomplete work.
Can unused playtest funding be refunded?
Uncommitted reward allocations and their corresponding 15% platform fee can be refunded to the original payment. Accepted work retains its reservation. Refund processing and bank arrival are separate events; see the refund policy for the current terms.
How can I measure return on playtesting effort?
Open My workspace → Insights for your private creator dashboard. See approved playtests, cost per approved test, delivery and review turnaround, player-reported wishlist/replay intent, goals, controls, technical problems and poll totals. Compare rounds, read the source feedback, log your own time and decision notes, track findings through changes and re-testing, and export the round statistics as CSV. Intent is not an actual wishlist or sale, and round differences do not prove revenue lift or causation.
Can an agent help me use Firstplay?
The public theplaytester agent skill guides game intake, publication, recruitment, polls, feedback review and reporting on theplaytest.io. Users operate their own accounts and control spending. An agent needs supported browser or authorized account access; recurring reports need a real scheduler. The skill cannot guarantee recruitment or invent gameplay, feedback or votes.
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