A narrative adventure where players journey across surreal planets while exploring questions of identity, meaning, and choice.
I Chew Therefore I Am
Role
QA & Usability Lead
Participants
40+ Players
Methods
Moderated playtesting, observation, RITE analysis
Link
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4698660/I_Chew_Therefore_I_Am/
Tools
As Usability Lead for I Chew Therefore I Am, I planned and facilitated more than 15 playtest sessions with over 40 participants. During each session, I recorded where they hesitated, became confused, acted unexpectedly, or reacted emotionally. Afterward, I combined these observations with survey responses and RITE documentation to identify recurring usability issues and communicate actionable recommendations to the design team.
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Observing Player Behavior
Throughout the playtest that I've conducted, I learned how players do not always recognize or verbalize the problems they encounter. During each session, I try to pay attention to both explicit feedback and behavioral signals that could reveal friction.
Some examples of body language that I would pay attention to would be:
HESITATION
Where does a player stop, reread something, move the cursor around,
or wait before making a decision?
REPEATED ACTIONS
If a player repeatedly clicked, backtracked, or revisited an area, I noted whether the game had communicated its intended interaction clearly.
UNINTENTIONAL BEHAVIOR
Did the player interact with something because they misunderstood its purpose? Did they repeatedly attempt an action the game did not expect?
EXPRESSIONS
Did they lean closer to the screen? Look confused? Smile? Become visibly frustrated? These reactions helped me identify moments worth asking about later.
During the Playtest
One of the most important parts of my process was not immediately explaining something when a player became confused. I wanted to understand what they believed the game was asking them to do first.
After observing something interesting, I could ask neutral follow-up questions such as:
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“What were you expecting to happen there?”
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“What were you thinking when you clicked that?”
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“What does this element mean to you?”
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“What made you choose that option?”
After the Playtest
After each session, I used a structured Google Form to capture information that observation alone could not provide. Instead of asking only whether someone “liked the game,” I organized questions around player background, comprehension, experience, behavior, and personal response.
For example, my survey starts off with understanding the player, asking them questions like: "How often do you play video games?", and "How familiar are you with narrative games?".
This is helpful for game designers to make iterations because not every player's feedback means the same thing. Their gaming background provides context for who is experiencing the problem and why.
Turning Playtests Into Actionable Feedback
OBSERVE
VERIFY
DOCUMENT
RECOMMEND
SYNTHESIZE
After sessions, I organized findings using the Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) framework.
< Key Takeaways >
Players communicate even when they aren't speaking
I learned to pay attention to hesitation, repeated actions, facial expressions, body language, and unexpected behavior. Sometimes the most useful finding came from the difference between what a player said and what I watched them do.
