Cellscape Playtest is Open!
The first public test of my microbe game is now open. Come try it out!
Hey everyone!
I’ve just opened the very first public testing round for my microbe game, Cellscape!
This is an absolutely huge milestone, and I’m so incredibly thrilled to have reached this point.
If you want to join the playtest, all you need is a Windows PC and a Steam account. It doesn’t cost anything, so you can treat it like a little free demo if you want. Just remember that it’s a test build, and not the complete game. Expect things to be unfinished and unpolished, and everything can potentially change before release.
What is a Playtest?
The purpose of a playtest is for the developer of a game to gain early feedback and find issues so they can improve the game before release. I can spend hours and hours testing on my own PC and think everything is good, and then the very first person to open it on another device will manage to find a new bug almost immediately. It’s just how it is :)
A playtest is often kept limited so that feedback can be more focused. In this case, I’m only interested in testing the first part of the game, so I have left out the biofilm system and full controller support which aren’t completely ready yet.
The game will be available to play for two weeks and then closed so I can work on whatever issues came up during testing.
How to Join
Joining a playtest is pretty much the same as downloading and playing a normal game on Steam. The game will go into your library as usual, the only difference is that you will lose access once the testing round ends.
Find Cellscape on Steam.
Look for the “Join Playtest”section.
Click “Request Access”.
Once you have access, the game will be added to your library.
Install and play like you normally would with any game.
I’ve set up a little Discord server to connect with testers and try to collect feedback in one place. There is also detailed information about the test, and instructions for how to play (there’s no in-game tutorial yet).
You’re more than welcome to join the discord if you’re interested in the game and want to follow development but not helping with testing. I plan to share news and development info there, and it’ll be the best place to go if you have any questions or just want to chat.
More News Coming Soon!
September has been a busy month with an exhibition, an interesting new type of commission project, and major progress on Cellscape. Stay tuned for more on all of that soon :)
Have a great weekend!
Kate
Congratulations!