Playing Aloud: Leveraging Game Commentary Culture for Playtesting

Think-alouds are a common method of collecting design data where a player describes their play for a facilitator. Games promote a feeling of immersivity and player presence, which is in tension with traditional think-aloud methods. This work introduces a new type of think-aloud protocol intended for game-based contexts which leverages the genres of video blogging and livestreaming in game culture. This new approach, called Play Aloud testing, has participants take on the role of a game streamer by expressing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences as they play – modeled after live streaming commentary. This paper demonstrates the potential of the Play Aloud approach using playtest data from a game called HEX of the Turtle Islands. We highlight how Play Aloud testing generated useful data providing insight into the experience of young players in a way that was authentic to the format of digital games and consistent with youth gaming practices.