Sections in this article:
Before starting the interview
Player interviews & moderated playtests through PlaytestCloud are conducted through our in-house video call system. It is fairly similar to most video calling services out there with a few added features.
Once we have scheduled a player for your time slot, you will receive an email from the system that contains a link to start the interview and a calendar invite that you can save to your calendar. You can invite colleagues to the calendar event or simply share the interview video call link with them. If they do not have a PlaytestCloud account, use the playtest sharing feature (read more). Sharing the playtest will allow them to access the playtest and conduct/join interviews.
Important: All players including your own players, accept an NDA before joining the interview. Any information shared during the interview is confidential.
Important! macOS users should give their browser screen recording permissions before joining the interview. The browser needs to be relaunched after the permission is granted, so doing it after the interview has begun would require exiting the interview and rejoining.
When you are ready to conduct the interview, click on the Start interview link on the playtest page to go to the interview interface, where you can start the interview up to 10 minutes before the scheduled time.
Admitting the player into the interview:
Players join a video call lobby when they are ready to join the interview. When you are ready to add them to the interview, click on the white Admit player button. This button is located on the right side of the blue pop up at the top of the interview interface stating the player is waiting in the lobby.
All interviewers can admit the player to the interview including participants that are in observer mode.
If the player leaves and rejoins the interview, they will join the lobby again and you will need admit them to the interview. They will not automatically rejoin the interview
Options in the interview interface:
In the action bar at the bottom, you will find:
Buttons to switch on/off your microphone and camera
Start/stop screen sharing
A three-dot menu with the following options:
Switch the camera or microphone that is active
Troubleshooting & help: this option links you to this article :)
Enable/disable background blur
Switch to observer mode: clicking on this enables the observer mode. The player will no longer see you as a participant in the interview
Report an issue: report no-shows or any other issues
A red End button to leave or end the call for all
The different camera feeds:
Which camera feed is in the center?
In the center of your screen, you will always see the player's camera feed. If the player has not joined, you will see your camera feed in the center. If you are sharing your screen, you will see what the other participants see in the center.
Once the player has joined, you will see their camera feed in the center and their name in the top center of their camera feed. If the player turns off their camera, you will see their camera feed represented by the PlaytestCloud monster icon:
Which camera feeds are on the right?
Once the player has joined, you will see your camera feed on the right along with any of your colleagues that have joined the interview. If more than two colleagues have joined, you can use the up/down arrow buttons to scroll through the participants.
If a colleague has turned off their camera, you and the player will see their camera feed represented by the PlaytestCloud researcher icon against a blue background:
If a colleague is in observer mode, they will not be visible to the player as a participant in the interview, but you will see them represented by the PlaytestCloud researcher icon against a gray background:
Screen share by you:
You can share your screen during the interview, and it can be a great tool to gather feedback in person on concepts and artwork from your game.
Some pointers:
macOS users should give their browser (applies to all browsers) screen recording permissions before joining the interview. The browser needs to be relaunched after the permission is granted, so doing it after the interview has begun would require exiting the interview and rejoining.
➡️ Instructions from Apple on how to grant screen recording permissionsAlways select a particular window or tab rather than the entire screen: When you click on the start screen sharing button, your browser gives you the option to share just a window or tab or your entire screen. It is best practice to always select a specific window or tab. This ensures you don't inadvertently share unintended material with the player and prevents your interview interface from looking like an infinity mirror.
Sharing audio along with the screen is only available while sharing a specific Chrome Tab and NOT the Entire Screen.
Screen share by the player:
Ask the player to start screen sharing to watch them play. For interview playtests, the player will not be asked to install any game before the interview. In moderated playtests, they will be asked to download the game you shared before joining. You can also ask the player to share their device audio along with their screen.
This is what the screen looks like for the player after they start sharing their screen:
Share Device Audio: Ask the player to enable this option if hearing the in-game audio is important for your interview/moderated playtest. If using this option ask the player to make sure their device is not on silent mode.
Switch to Game: This button is only shown for moderated playtests where you shared a game while setting up the playtest. Clicking on this automatically redirects the player to your game/prototype.
Stop Screen Sharing for Players: The button located in the action bar to the left of the red End button, similar to the one in the interviewer's interface, is how the player can start/stop screen sharing. You will be able to see their entire screen when this option is enabled.
Understanding observer mode
Too many interviewers can be intimidating for players, so if you are joining the interview only to take notes and observe, you should enable observer mode. In observer mode, your microphone and camera are switched off, and players do not see you as a participant in the interview.
Some things to remember:
Observer mode is only available if there are two or more interviewers in the interview. You cannot go into observer mode if you are the only interviewer.
If you join the interview after another interviewer has already joined, you will join in observer mode by default and can choose to make yourself visible to the player when you are ready.
Other interviewers (not the player) can still see you as a participant in the interview when you are in observer mode.
When you disable observer mode, you are made visible to the player as a participant in the interview, but your camera and microphone remain disabled. You need to enable them manually.
If all the other interviewers leave the interview and you are already in observer mode, you will NOT automatically become visible to the player until you disable observer mode.
How to enable observer mode:
There are two ways to enable observer mode:
When you join an interview after another interviewer has already joined, you initially join in observer mode
If you are currently not in observer mode, click on the three-dot menu in the action bar, and then click on Switch to observer mode to activate it
How to disable observer mode:
Click on the Join button in the action bar at the bottom of the screen.