Concept Playtesting

Modified on Thu, 10 Jul at 10:36 AM

Get first-impression feedback from real players — before building anything.

Perfect for validating your creative direction, early ideas, and emotional resonance.

What is it?

Concept Playtesting on Lysto lets you get real-time, think-aloud reactions to your early-stage creative assets — no gameplay required.

No build. No systems. Just raw creative —slide deck, PPT, document, Canva, Figma, or video with artwork, videos, character concepts, copy, audio, or UI mockups. Players speak aloud while reviewing and recording their screens, so you hear their raw reactions and thought processes. You can also include an optional survey for structured feedback.

Concept Playtesting is perfect for validating tone, clarity, and emotional hooks while your ideas are still fluid. It’s where narrative, art, and UX teams catch early disconnects — and where product and marketing teams get proof of what actually resonates.

When should you use Concept Testing?

Select this playtest when you want to:

Validate an idea, theme, or art style before production
Test character designs, faction identities, or narrative tone
See if your feature name, tagline, or UI layout is clear
Get reactions to trailers, cinematics, or voiceovers
Compare multiple directions (A/B testing splash screens or icons)
Catch early disconnects in brand, fantasy, or tone
Build pitch ammo with real player voice clips + transcripts

Whether you're still in concept, testing creative for UA, or iterating brand visuals, this is how you find out what actually lands — and what doesn’t.

What can you do with Concept Playtesting?

What You Can Do	Examples
Validate Visual Direction	“How would you describe this art style in your own words?”
Test Voice & Audio	“How well does the voice fit this character’s appearance and role?”
Check Narrative Clarity	“Who do you think this character is? Hero? Boss? Ally?”
Preview UI / Screens	“Is it clear what each icon does?”
Compare Variants	“Which trailer or character design do you prefer?”
Test Feature Naming	“What would you expect 'Chrono Rift' to do in a game?”
Understand First Reactions	Hear confusion, excitement, or disinterest in players’ voices

What’s included (and what’s not)

Feature	Concept Playtesting	Notes
Game Build Needed	✅	No .apk or gameplay needed
Media Upload	✅	Upload Figma, Canva, Doc, Slides and PPT
Player Voice + Screen Recording	✅	Raw reaction recordings + transcripts
Survey Tool Support	✅	Use Lysto’s tool or 3rd-party like Alchemer
Player Targeting	✅	Choose age, gender, region, device, and gamer type
Multi-Device Support	✅	Android, iOS, and PC testers

How it works (step-by-step)

Add Your Game: Give us the name, description, and what you’re testing.
Choose Concept Test Format: No gameplay required — just media assets.
Upload Your Slide Deck: Upload your deck or document (Figma, Canva, Slides, Docs, or PPT) that includes all video/trailers, visuals, text, and audio, along with your user feedback questions.
Add Playtesting Instructions: When creating your playtest, you can provide specific instructions that players will see before they begin testing.
Set Player Requirements: Define your audience by age, gender, region, genre preferences, device, and more.
(Optional) Add a Survey: Ask structured questions post-test via Lysto’s tool or a 3rd-party custom survey tools like Alchemer.
Launch Test: Players review the upload, think aloud, complete tasks, and submit their responses.
Get Feedback: Watch recordings, scan transcripts, and review survey results — all in your dashboard.

What roles benefit from Concept Testing?

Role	Key Benefits
Game Designers	Validate if the fantasy, character design, or narrative hook is clear
Creative Directors	Test visual tone, worldbuilding, or branding direction
Narrative Leads	Hear whether character bios, arcs, or VO hit the right tone
Marketing Teams	Preview trailer reactions, taglines, or UA ad visual hooks
Founders/Execs	Use clips and stats to strengthen pitches, align teams, or guide greenlight

Why use this instead of other playtests?

If You Want To…	Concept Playtesting is Best
Test art, copy, or trailers with no build	✅
Understand player reactions in real time	✅
Validate theme or visual tone	✅
Compare creative directions	✅
Catch misalignment before production	✅
Create pitch-ready proof with real data	✅

Concept Playtesting = your fast lane to early creative validation.
Before you animate, voice-record, or lock a feature — hear what real players see, feel, and say.

No code. No waiting. Just clear, actionable reactions.

To know more, reach out to us at contact@lysto.io