Steve Bromley
@stevebromley.bsky.social
🎮 Games User Research Consultant, author of “How To Be A Games User Researcher” | Horizon, SingStar, LittleBigPlanet, PlayStation VR & more 🤫 | Make games players love: http://gamesuserresearch.com 👾
So unbelievably hooked on Hades 2. Started this weekend and can’t stop with new runs.
a drawing of a woman with a sword and a star in the bottom right corner
Alt: Hades 2 logo
media.tenor.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:42 PM
So unbelievably hooked on Hades 2. Started this weekend and can’t stop with new runs.
Had a session as a research participant today, which was enlightening.
I could see a number of factors where the platform could have lead to me not knowing when or how to join the session - potentially creating no-shows.
Worth checking the participant experience for the platform you use!
I could see a number of factors where the platform could have lead to me not knowing when or how to join the session - potentially creating no-shows.
Worth checking the participant experience for the platform you use!
October 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Had a session as a research participant today, which was enlightening.
I could see a number of factors where the platform could have lead to me not knowing when or how to join the session - potentially creating no-shows.
Worth checking the participant experience for the platform you use!
I could see a number of factors where the platform could have lead to me not knowing when or how to join the session - potentially creating no-shows.
Worth checking the participant experience for the platform you use!
Reposted by Steve Bromley
Your idea ain't shit if it don't playtest well.
What's your number one personal game design principle? And even better - does it have a cool name?
October 21, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Your idea ain't shit if it don't playtest well.
Excellent this is now Steam Deck optimised - jumped to the top of my weekend to-play list!
Update 2.2 includes general bug fixes and combat encounter adjustments for all platforms. It also introduces new handheld optimizations and quality of life updates including DOOM: The Dark Ages now being Steam Deck Verified.
beth.games/4nVNfFB
beth.games/4nVNfFB
October 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Excellent this is now Steam Deck optimised - jumped to the top of my weekend to-play list!
AI in “can’t deliver when anyone cares about the quality of the output” shocker.
Charles Cecil says that using AI to upscale artwork for Broken Sword: Reforged was a mistake. "The result was not enormously satisfactory," he says. Instead, Revolution ended up redrawing the backgrounds from scratch, using the original artwork as a reference.
www.gamesindustry.biz/ai-was-an-ex...
www.gamesindustry.biz/ai-was-an-ex...
"AI was an expensive mistake": Charles Cecil on innovation, insolvency, and Broken Sword
Plus, why Revolution Software needs to innovate for Broken Sword 6 – and why it might be a long way off
www.gamesindustry.biz
October 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
AI in “can’t deliver when anyone cares about the quality of the output” shocker.
Reposted by Steve Bromley
Our team are running user research concerning games accessibility. This is a paid research session open to UK residents. Please register your interest below if you are interested in taking part.
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
RI971: UK-Wide Digital Accessibility Research - £100
www.researchi.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Our team are running user research concerning games accessibility. This is a paid research session open to UK residents. Please register your interest below if you are interested in taking part.
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
Huge fan of previous Size Five games - in particular Behold The Kickmen, and Lair Of The Clockwork God.
Looking forward to what’s next!
Looking forward to what’s next!
If you enjoy Size Five and want to see it survive what is a very iffy time for the Games Industry, please do three things with your Saturday:
✅ Wishlist EARTH MUST DIE
✅ Buy a game on sale
✅ Share these links where you can
store.steampowered.com/app/3639780/...
store.steampowered.com/dev/sizefive
✅ Wishlist EARTH MUST DIE
✅ Buy a game on sale
✅ Share these links where you can
store.steampowered.com/app/3639780/...
store.steampowered.com/dev/sizefive
Earth Must Die on Steam
These moronic Terranoids think they can just roll in here and take over my beautiful Tyrythian kingdom? The kingdom that I built from the ground up with my bare hands, and only sort of inherited from ...
store.steampowered.com
October 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Huge fan of previous Size Five games - in particular Behold The Kickmen, and Lair Of The Clockwork God.
Looking forward to what’s next!
Looking forward to what’s next!
Tom Arnold on this list also confirms True Lies 2… still waiting!
This 2002 press release of 'celebrity testimonials' for the PS2 is an absolutely incredible time capsule.
October 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Tom Arnold on this list also confirms True Lies 2… still waiting!
With the invention of the .webp format, humanity has finally achieved it’s goal of creating an image format no-one can open.
September 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
With the invention of the .webp format, humanity has finally achieved it’s goal of creating an image format no-one can open.
Played ‘and Roger’ this weekend.
Can’t say too much about it, but it will stick with me for a long time.
Can’t say too much about it, but it will stick with me for a long time.
September 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Played ‘and Roger’ this weekend.
Can’t say too much about it, but it will stick with me for a long time.
Can’t say too much about it, but it will stick with me for a long time.
A lot of my work has been from the perspective of user researchers - so I’m really excited about this new series of playtesting interviews showing a different viewpoint - starting with experienced producer Tom O’Connor:
gamesuserresearch.com/how-to-build...
gamesuserresearch.com/how-to-build...
How to build user testing into your development process, from concept to release | Games User Research
How to build user testing into your development process, from concept to release - from experience production at Tencent & PlayStation
gamesuserresearch.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
A lot of my work has been from the perspective of user researchers - so I’m really excited about this new series of playtesting interviews showing a different viewpoint - starting with experienced producer Tom O’Connor:
gamesuserresearch.com/how-to-build...
gamesuserresearch.com/how-to-build...
The Age of Man is … approx a couple of weeks?
September 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The Age of Man is … approx a couple of weeks?
Puzzle gaming today - played through Time Flies, and Ooo, with Blue Prince next.
I always think puzzle games are interesting from a playtesting perspective - specifically how to balance the intended difficulty bs frustration.
I always think puzzle games are interesting from a playtesting perspective - specifically how to balance the intended difficulty bs frustration.
September 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Puzzle gaming today - played through Time Flies, and Ooo, with Blue Prince next.
I always think puzzle games are interesting from a playtesting perspective - specifically how to balance the intended difficulty bs frustration.
I always think puzzle games are interesting from a playtesting perspective - specifically how to balance the intended difficulty bs frustration.
Worryingly, life membership of the Tate is only 25 years. What do they know that I don't?
September 14, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Worryingly, life membership of the Tate is only 25 years. What do they know that I don't?
Reposted by Steve Bromley
It’s been such a bonkers couple of weeks, but this is HUGE news and affirmation for my new #gameDev book. If endorsements from folks like Will Wright and Jesse Schell and @stevebromley.bsky.social weren’t enough, we’re being featured by Kirkus Reviews as a recommendation in their print mag Oct 15. 💜
The Game Development Strategy Guide has been celebrated by early reviewers and has been selected by Kirkus Reviews for a rare indie spotlight in the October 15 print magazine. Just a few more days to pre-order before September 16. Press release: www.gamedevelopmentstrategyguide.com/the-game-dev...
The Game Development Strategy Guide celebrated by early reviewers; selected by Kirkus Reviews for an indie spotlight - The Game Development Strategy Guide
New book by Cheryl Platz honored for its groundbreaking approach to demystifying and documenting modern video game development with new tools and insights in a fun and accessible way Bellevue, WA : Th...
www.gamedevelopmentstrategyguide.com
September 11, 2025 at 1:23 PM
It’s been such a bonkers couple of weeks, but this is HUGE news and affirmation for my new #gameDev book. If endorsements from folks like Will Wright and Jesse Schell and @stevebromley.bsky.social weren’t enough, we’re being featured by Kirkus Reviews as a recommendation in their print mag Oct 15. 💜
My experience in many games
September 9, 2025 at 7:50 PM
My experience in many games
I recently enjoyed the book LAN Party, with its many pictures bringing back memories of late, nerdy, nights.
September 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I recently enjoyed the book LAN Party, with its many pictures bringing back memories of late, nerdy, nights.
I really liked the mechanic in I Am Alive of bullets being very scarce in the post-apocalyptic world, making each shot a concious and costly decision.
It also ended on a cliffhanger - would be fun to see it come back!
It also ended on a cliffhanger - would be fun to see it come back!
Atari has acquired the IP rights to five Ubisoft games: Cold Fear, I Am Alive, Child of Eden, Grow Home, and its sequel, Grow Up.
Atari acquires five Ubisoft Games
Atari has acquired the IP rights to five Ubisoft games: Cold Fear, I Am Alive, Child of Eden, Grow Home, and its sequel…
www.gamesindustry.biz
August 28, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I really liked the mechanic in I Am Alive of bullets being very scarce in the post-apocalyptic world, making each shot a concious and costly decision.
It also ended on a cliffhanger - would be fun to see it come back!
It also ended on a cliffhanger - would be fun to see it come back!
Concerned seeing teams rely on automated analysis of think-aloud data to find usability issues with games.
In complex systems like games, players often don’t know they are experiencing issues or haven’t understood correctly. You need to watch them, and ask questions, to uncover this!
In complex systems like games, players often don’t know they are experiencing issues or haven’t understood correctly. You need to watch them, and ask questions, to uncover this!
August 27, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Concerned seeing teams rely on automated analysis of think-aloud data to find usability issues with games.
In complex systems like games, players often don’t know they are experiencing issues or haven’t understood correctly. You need to watch them, and ask questions, to uncover this!
In complex systems like games, players often don’t know they are experiencing issues or haven’t understood correctly. You need to watch them, and ask questions, to uncover this!
Game development is a challenging environment for user researchers, because we can’t rely on user needs as the baseline for our studies.
Good playtesting will push teams first to define “what are we trying to make”, & then iterate that vision based on seeing players interactions.
Good playtesting will push teams first to define “what are we trying to make”, & then iterate that vision based on seeing players interactions.
August 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Game development is a challenging environment for user researchers, because we can’t rely on user needs as the baseline for our studies.
Good playtesting will push teams first to define “what are we trying to make”, & then iterate that vision based on seeing players interactions.
Good playtesting will push teams first to define “what are we trying to make”, & then iterate that vision based on seeing players interactions.
Really excited to see this announced - It’s been fantastic supporting Fireshine and the @denshattack.bsky.social team with research for this - a very stylish and fun game!
Flip, trick & grind through a vibrant Japanese dystopia in Denshattack! Outsmart rival crews, crush a shady megacorp, and reclaim the rails with pure skill, speed & style. 🚅✨
🎮 Wishlist now: fireshinegames.co.uk/Denshattack/
🎮 Wishlist now: fireshinegames.co.uk/Denshattack/
August 20, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Really excited to see this announced - It’s been fantastic supporting Fireshine and the @denshattack.bsky.social team with research for this - a very stylish and fun game!
Reposted by Steve Bromley
The Coolest Thing From Gamescom ONL Was This Wild Train Game
Denshattack Was The Coolest Game At Opening Night Live 2025
Denshattack! combines Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, anime, cool music, Jet Set Radio, and subway trains into a weird combo that I can't wait to play
kotaku.com
August 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
The Coolest Thing From Gamescom ONL Was This Wild Train Game
It was:
Gone Home
Thirty Flights of Loving
Papers Please
Stanley Parable
The Beginners Guide
… I was mostly a console player.
Gone Home
Thirty Flights of Loving
Papers Please
Stanley Parable
The Beginners Guide
… I was mostly a console player.
August 15, 2025 at 10:18 PM
It was:
Gone Home
Thirty Flights of Loving
Papers Please
Stanley Parable
The Beginners Guide
… I was mostly a console player.
Gone Home
Thirty Flights of Loving
Papers Please
Stanley Parable
The Beginners Guide
… I was mostly a console player.
Some early thinking of what levers we can pull on, to help encourage game development stakeholders to prioritise (and act on) research studies.
New article on this coming up shortly, which will be shared on the mailing list at gamesuserresearch.com.
New article on this coming up shortly, which will be shared on the mailing list at gamesuserresearch.com.
August 8, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Some early thinking of what levers we can pull on, to help encourage game development stakeholders to prioritise (and act on) research studies.
New article on this coming up shortly, which will be shared on the mailing list at gamesuserresearch.com.
New article on this coming up shortly, which will be shared on the mailing list at gamesuserresearch.com.
Picked up this new hardware “synthetic user”.
Will be using it for research studies where teams accept AI participants - saves on SaaS subscription fees.
Will be using it for research studies where teams accept AI participants - saves on SaaS subscription fees.
August 6, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Picked up this new hardware “synthetic user”.
Will be using it for research studies where teams accept AI participants - saves on SaaS subscription fees.
Will be using it for research studies where teams accept AI participants - saves on SaaS subscription fees.