An Exploratory Testing Approach in Digital Games

• Grant number: 22/13469-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computer Systems
• Principal Investigator: André Takeshi Endo
• Grantee: Yohan Duarte Pessanha
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Digital games is currently a billion dollar market, and the occurrence of bugs in this class of software can cause great impact and generate dissatisfaction among users. Therefore, it is necessary to perform tests and ensure the quality of the product. Although software testing automation can be applied, testing from the player's perspective is still primarily performed manually. When considering software in general, exploratory testing is a manual approach that is widely used in practice; the tester designs and runs tests and, at the same time, learns from the results to start a new iteration of tests. There is a rich literature on exploratory testing; however, it is rarely addressed in the game testing literature, not providing new testers with guidelines to be used in order to consider the characteristics of this class of software.In this context, the goal of this project is to propose an exploratory testing approach for digital games. Initially, the current practices of manual testing in digital games will be elicited through the analysis of technical and gray literature. Then, we will investigate the exploratory testing strategies used for traditional software. Based on the acquired knowledge, an approach that considers the characteristics of digital games will be proposed, aiming to increase the test effectiveness. To validate the approach, a Web tool will be developed and then used to conduct a case study. We expect that this project provides subsidies for game developers to perform more effective manual tests and contribute to the final product quality.