Experienced testing consultant for all indie teamsHelping your games become their absolute best
10 years of game testing experience
| Indie development | Indie publishing |
| AA development | AA publishing |
| AAA development | AAA publishing |
What is the purpose of QualIndie
In my time in the industry, I’ve seen so many fun and exciting indie games released into the wild, but I've also seen so many more not be accepted by players because of bugs, or incongruent game mechanics and jarring experiences.So many indie games being developed are full of passion, but need nurturing to reach their full potential to be widely accepted by players. Indie games are a core pillar of the games industry: innovating game mechanics; stories; and concepts that high budget titles usually can't afford to develop towards.I want to use my knowledge of the industry and experience in testing and recognising user feedback and different player experiences to help developers who cannot afford a team of testers to review their work each day.
Why use a QA consultant
Your games deserve to be the most enjoyable, most passion-filled projects they can be - they get a better chance of this with similarly passionate people like myself helping wherever they can.
01.
More time for development
Thorough testing takes time: time that could be spend on the more hands-on parts of game dev. A dedicated QA tester can free up that time, go through testing by themselves, and help highlight which critical issues should be looked at in a workload-focussed order.
02.
More feedback
Having more players look at your game will provide you with more user feedback: subtle things like adding an asset to show the path through a level, or confirming what another player thought needed to be changed to make the game just that little bit better.
03.
Detached view of features prompt new ideas
External QA consultants have the benefit of not being tied to a single project, and can come back to it whenever requested with fresh eyes, getting a perspective of the game not always shared with the developers which helps provide different development ideas.
Services provided
These are the most common services that can be provided to any team. A day-rate of £100 is added to each day of QA consultation provided.Each service has an hourly rate added to the day-rate based on their complexity and the amount of experience needed to complete them, but the hourly rate is only charged against time worked (hourly rates are not charged for unavoidable crashes and progression blockers).
QA Testing (PC)
Hourly rate: £10/hrPrimary goal: Highlighting bugs or areas of concernApproach: Commonly playing through the game first, identifying how mechanics work with each other, and seeing how these interactions can be exploited
QA Testing (Steam Deck)
Hourly rate: £10/hrPrimary goal: Highlighting bugs or areas of concern (performance & portable console issues in particular)Approach: With portable console issues in particular, notes are made during initial playthroughs, identifying different ways to exploit how a portable console will handle operations, which are then revisited in subsequent tests
User Experience ("UX") feedback (broad)
Hourly rate: £10/hrPrimary goal: Giving feedback on how a player will engage with a specific level or mechanic, and some reasons as to why they might engage in that wayApproach: Note-taking during the first playthrough, separate to notes made for bugs to be examined, that is then written into meaningful feedback
User Experience ("UX") feedback (comprehensive)
Hourly rate: £20/hrPrimary goal: Giving extensive feedback on how a player will engage with a specific aspect of the game, likely reasons for how and why, recommendations for further reinforcing a development direction to encourage this user behaviourApproach: Extensive note-taking during the first playthrough and subsequent gameplay experiences, converted into user POV notes, before then detailing further how to encourage this noted behaviour from users via recommendations
Steam Deck verification testing & UX feedback
Hourly rate: £20/hrPrimary goal: Highlighting any areas identified during playthroughs on the Steam Deck that may be flagged by Steam's verification checks, as well as providing User Experience feedback on how the game feels to play on Steam Deck compared to PCApproach: Using the Steam Deck compat checklist to verify that the game's features comply with Valve's requirements. Additionally, making notes about how comfortable the game is to play on Steam Deck in comparison to the PC build
Milestone build reviews
Hourly rate: £50/hrPrimary goal: Providing a high-budget simulation for go/no-go status on milestone build before game can proceed in developmentApproach: Setting up pre-testing plans & getting project alignment from the full team, carrying out full-title testing, and preparing comprehensive reports highlighting future knock-ons, traffic light rating & recommendations for issues, user experiences, and avoiding the noted knock-ons
Temporary non-QA testing guidance
Hourly rate: £20/hrGeneral testing guidance when QA is not employed to look at the project (temporary solution for long-term need such as reporting standards)
Test tool support & set-up
Hourly rate: £20/hrTest tool support & set-up (using Jira, Miro, Trello, etc. and general standards in bug tracking reporting)
Test process optimisation support
Hourly rate: £20/hrTest process optimisation support (workflows, process for integrating & testing)
Consultation process
While the specifics of the process will be different for different teams and projects, this is generally what you can expect to happen
01. Initial discussion of the game
Discovery (no charge): We go over the project and see what needs to be reviewed as part of a QA responsibility, what I can or cannot help with, suggestions about testing and services, and how to access the project. This will also be where I sign any NDAs you want me to sign.
02. Client sync
Confirmation of work (optional depending on your timeframe, but also no charge): written confirmation of what you’re hoping to get out of my work, and what I’m expecting I can provide with my testing experience. This will be where we decide on when you’d like me to start work. The final fee will be calculated, with the day-rate fee requested for payment before work starts.
03. Begin work
I start working on our agreed services to be provided. I’ll send you a message confirming I’ve started, and if anything important happens during my work, you’ll be updated.
04. Conclude work
Results are delivered to you with a summary of my work: bug tickets; user feedback; future issues to be aware of; platform testing notes, etc. All work is provided in a pre-agreed file format like PDF/Excel/Obsidian (or whatever works best for you), and the hour fees for services provided will be requested for payment.
Request services
If my services sound like something your game could benefit from, and you'd like to request them, please get in contact using the form below