Before a publisher plays your build, I play it.
A recorded playthrough and a ranked list of what could cost you the deal, from a lead gameplay programmer with 11 shipped games. Back to you within 5 working days.
Free for the first 3 teams, in exchange for a case study. Then $450, then $900.
From the day I have your build to the day you have the review.
I do every review myself, so that is the limit.
I will sign your NDA. Nothing is shown to anyone without your written OK.
The build gets played before your budget gets read
A crash in the first minutes, controls that feel slow, or a fight nobody can read can end the conversation before anyone opens your deck.
- 1They play the build
Before anything else. The first minutes decide whether they keep going.
- 2They read your plan
Team, budget, production plan. Only if the build held up.
- 3They negotiate
The part you want to reach, with the build already behind you.
You can't see those problems anymore. After months inside your own game, you know where not to press. Someone who plays it cold, the way a publisher's scout does, finds them in the first hour. Better that it's me, while there is still time to fix them.
What I look at
Six things, in roughly the order a publisher runs into them.
The first ten minutes
Where a player decides whether to keep going: the opening, the first goal, the moment the game shows what it is.
Feel and input
Input delay, camera, controller support, the weight of a hit. What a team stops noticing after months with its own game.
Readability
Whether a new player can tell what an ability does, what is dangerous and where to go next.
Combat and the core loop
Variety across the demo, enemy telegraphs, difficulty spikes, the moments players quit. Combat is what I work on every day.
Build health
Does it launch clean on a fresh machine? Crashes, frame rate, settings, saves, resolution and text size.
The next question
What a console port or a longer production would run into, judged from what the build shows. The things a publisher's technical people ask about.
What you get
- A recorded playthrough, usually 45 to 90 minutes, with my commentary as I play it cold.
- A ranked fix list: each problem, where it happens, why it matters at pitch time, and roughly how big the fix is. Sorted into fix before you pitch, fix before launch, and leave it.
- A one-page readiness score, so you can measure the next build against this one.
- Where you will need outside help, such as porting, QA or localization, with studios from this directory that do that work. Studios do not pay to be named in a review.
- A 30-minute call to go through it, if you want one.
- One check of your revised build within 60 days, at no charge.
In exchange for permission to publish the review as a case study, named or anonymised, and only the parts you approve. After that, $450 for the next 5 teams, then $900 a review.
Nothing to pay to apply. Payment, when there is one, comes after we agree the slot.
Apply for a slotIs it for you?
Yes, if
- You have a playable demo, vertical slice or prototype.
- Someone outside the team plays it soon: a publisher, a fund, or Steam Next Fest.
- You would rather hear the bad news from me than from them.
Not if you need
- An idea or a design document. There has to be something to play.
- A code review. I review what a publisher sees, which is the build, not your source.
- Console devkit builds. Send a Windows PC build: a Steam key or a download link.
Who plays your build
I'm Quod Soler, a lead gameplay programmer with 11 shipped games. Combat and game feel are the parts of a game I work on every day.
I also run this site, a directory of 530 game outsourcing studios. So when a review finds work you'll need help with, I can point you to studios that do it.
I'm not a publisher and this isn't a pitch service. The review is about the build: when someone with money plays it, nothing should get in the way of the game. More about me.
Questions
- Which engines do you review?
- Any. I play the build, so Unreal, Unity, Godot or your own engine all work. I can go deepest on Unreal problems, because that is what I use every day.
- How do I send the build?
- After we agree the slot, not before: a Steam key, or a download link for a Windows build. Add your pitch deck if you have one, so I can check the build against what the deck promises.
- Will anyone else see my game?
- No. I will sign your NDA if you have one. Nothing about your game is published or shared without your written OK, and that includes the case study.
- Do you find me a publisher?
- Not as part of the review. The review gets the build ready for that conversation. Who you pitch to is your call.
Apply for a slot
Two minutes. I read every application myself and answer within 2 working days.
Looking for a studio rather than a review? Browse 530 game outsourcing studios.