Online casino testing: challenges and solutions

by Yulia Lomanova | December 26, 2018 11:32 am

Note: this article was updated in June 2020.

A long time ago gambling fans all over the world took to online casinos to fulfill their craving for the adrenaline rush, and have turned it into a multi-billion dollar industry ever since. The surging popularity highlights the growing need for security and trust; the bedrock for this domain. Sharing the responsibility for the user’s satisfaction, businesses must keep abreast of modern testing techniques, entrusting the gaming software to seasoned QA professionals[1] before it gets launched.

Testing Algorithm of a Slot Game

The testing process is tightly bound to the development life cycle of the game that includes designing the product, developing and polishing it, and then fixing the defects not fixed during previous stages. These four phases are essential for an online game testing plan.

Step 1. Testing and the project itself start concurrently. For a tester, the design part is dedicated to risk analysis and static testing. It also gives a necessary opportunity to build mutual trust between a tester and a developer.

Step 2. The agile testing stage starts when there are already functionalities to test. While the product can be changed in a different direction anytime, it is imperative to provide developers only with relevant information, familiarizing themselves with the product in the meantime. Actual runs of the game can be initiated once it is ready for polishing.

Step 3. QA engineer initiates integration testing when the development part is done, meaning that the development team does not work on the production anymore but reacts to reported defects.

Testing Techniques, Targets & Common Bugs

Using test cases and checklists is a common practice when it comes to online casino testing. The most effective for this purpose are considered the following testing techniques:

• compatibility testing[2];
• functional testing;
• game authentication testing;
• localization testing;
• performance testing;
• regression testing;
• rollback path testing;
• security testing;
• usability testing.

The targets of game testing include graphics, sounds, rules, doubling, winning combinations, money purchases, etc.

Thinking about most common bugs penetrating the gaming software, we can point out minor glitches from design issues and invalid buttons (even though the overly saturated market of today won’t forgive even the smallest inconvenience) to major issues like wrong bonus accrual, crashes on mobile devices, and wrong currency calculation.

Gambling testing is always a challenge for a QA engineer. Experience, the latest technologies, and tools are required. And yes, the right QA service provider is a must for success in this industry.

Related Posts:

• Game Check-Ups Overview: Why Do You Need Release Ready Testing For Sure?[3]
• Balance adjustments in multiplayer games[4]
• How to develop a crypto game to impress the market?[5]

Source URL: https://blog.qatestlab.com/2018/12/26/online-casino-testing/

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