How to get feedback for your games?

Try some of the short running challenges, like Ludum Dare or the very well hidden Gamedev.Net challenges.

This compos are always set up for either very few people (here), or mass releases with a focus on feedback (Ludum Dare).

But aren't those specific challanges with themes etc? I've worked on these games for years

Maybe you could create a DevLog post in the Forum appropiate category and get it updated. So we can see your progress, what's your game about and the way to play it in order to send you feedback. I guess it's all about the content you share with the community.

On 11/6/2018 at 12:02 AM, suliman said:

But aren't those specific challenges with themes etc? I've worked on these games for years

Not sure if it's the competitiveness or the all-in-it-together factor or both but people tend to look more at each other's projects when they have the bonds of these challenges or contests. Participating in them might be a way to make your work known in general and otherwise catch attention when your name is attached to some other project. However the risk is that it's just going to be attention more from the developers you've participated with and it's likely they'll be just as focused on their own projects as ever.

I've seen pretty consistently that responses in the Announcements forums is almost non-existent but there does appear to be some activity in the Hobby Project Classifieds. Maybe instead of asking for feedback you tell people you are looking for QA / Play testers and that you can credit them in game. Outline for them what you want them to focus on and what questions you want them to answer.

I can't really offer advice on any other communities that will be better suited - my experience is that they're already relatively similar to the ones you've already listed, or worse. The GameDev Show and Test group (and it's related groups) on Facebook, in particular, is ridiculously hit and miss; I find it's mostly just people advertising their own stuff with no real interest in trying others' work, and unless you get lucky or you're making a meme game you probably won't get much engagement there.

I can't really comment on Itch, although I've heard some people have luck there. GameJolt is also often mentioned, and I believe is fairly similar to Itch.

Speaking for this community, I think blogs -- especially if they're regularly updated -- usually get more feedback than topics in the announcements forum. Setting up a Project and linking a blog so that updates feed through can get some good exposure due to the social media feeds. Focused questions in relevant forums (such as Game Design) can also get good input, as I've seen you already do from time to time.

With all of that being said, when you're after actual playtesting my impression is that it's generally difficult everywhere, and there's no particular community where people are more engaged and likely to download and give feedback on a game unless you already have your own established fan base eagerly following your work. Obviously it's not the same or as good as actual playtesting for some purposes, but I think including plenty of media (screenshots, videos) can help to attract comments and feedback without the commitment of actually downloading and playing the game, whilst also increasing the likelihood of piquing someone's interest enough to give it a go.

If your game has a particular theme you could also seek out non-gaming/development communities with an interest in the theme and politely (of course following any community rules) see if they're interested in giving your game a go.

Going into the real world can also be beneficial. Ask friends or family to give it a go -- maybe in exchange for a beer, some pizza, or whatever. Be cautious with the feedback you get from these sort of people though, as those close to you will often want to be encouraging and avoid hurting your feelings, and may not share their honest opinions; this is how terrible singers end up nationally televised on Idol or similar shows with no idea that they're not actually talented! As suggested in this recent article, make sure you're actually watching (or even recording, with permission) your playtesters, and learn from your observations rather than just what they actually tell you.

Expanding beyond friends and family, you could look for gaming clubs at local high schools or universities and see if they would be interested in giving a new game in development a try.

With mobile games, I've also had luck with "captive audiences" out in the real world. Go on a longer peak hour train ride with a couple of devices and a little sign saying "try my game" and you'll usually find enough bored commuters willing to give it a go that your devices will be in use for the whole trip. I once saw an article from a developer who tried something similar with the people waiting at the DMV. Obviously don't make a nuisance of yourself though! Obviously, this doesn't really work with desktop titles, unfortunately.

Overall, it's a tough problem to crack, and I don't think there are any magic solutions. There's not some magical community out there where every game will get all of the playtesting it needs or some magical formula for attracting people to actually give games a go.

Hope some of that helps!

Awesome, thanks guys!