Shapez 2: How 600 hours of Playtesting Contributed to over 150,000 downloads in 4 days!

The Journey to Success

Tobspr was founded in 2018 by Tobias Springer, and a team of 8 worked on the fantastic Shapez 2 (A factory-building game where the focus is on just that — building huge factories! Construct sprawling multi-level factories and min-max your layouts without limits)—tailor-made for enthusiasts who crave the thrill of optimizing production lines and perfecting automation.

With one year to their planned release date, they applied for our Indie Program, stating that they wanted to:

• Validate their assumptions and build a great game.
• Streamline feedback outside of our "core" community to ensure they build a game that appeals to a bigger audience.
• Watch player behaviour to make the best decisions during development.
• Ensure that the onboarding of Shapez 2 was on point at any point in the game since factory games can be super challenging for people to get into.
  

As the launch results show, they got this in spades; however, it takes more than the right mentality to minimise risk, and by conducting 25 playtests in 9 months, they didn't leave anything to chance.

So, how did a player first mentally & frequent playtesting help Shapez 2 become such a success?

Tobspr Identified Success Metrics

Before embarking on any market validation, it is critical to take a step back and outline what success looks like for the game and what could prevent it from reaching those heights.

Now, Shapez 2 was a follow-up to Shapez, a title with solid foundations and players enjoyed the original concept; however, during our early conversations with Tobias, Three Critical Challenges were Identified.

1. Shapez was originally 2D; however, Shapez 2 would be 3D. This change would bring new layers of gameplay complexity, requiring players to have a deeper understanding of the core mechanics to enjoy.
   
   
2. Shapez was linear; however, Shapez 2 would break that mould to introduce more variety within the gameplay with a new transportation mechanic and tech tree capabilities. Again require players to find these new mechanics easy to pick up, use and explore.
   
   
3. The game would need to convert a broad audience new to factory games to hit sales targets. Not just hitting the hardcore factory market. Tobias expressed this was the most significant challenge they faced.
   
   

Although Tobias stated on LinkedIn after the early-access launch that he would never have predicted the reception to happen, we know he had set clear launch goals one year before release:

1. Player Reception - above 90% - 95%
   
   
2. All players (new to the genre or not) could easily onboard into the game and get up to speed on the core mechanics quickly to:
   1. Find the fun early and reduce drop-off during the first 2 hrs.
   2. Retain the knowledge required to master the game's complexity to keep coming back for more.

These goals were not easy to achieve. However, the team's mentality was clear from the start, and all we had to do was unlock the tools for them to capture in-depth feedback from their players at pace.

Frequent Feedback Loops Reduced Risk

If you've seen the reviews or played it already, it's clear that the studio met these goals and more; however, a relentless commitment to frequent feedback loops outside the studio made hitting these metrics easier.

So, how did Tobspr approach it?

[1] They formed a habit of playtesting externally every two weeks within their production cycle.

[2] They strategically focused on the two playtesting areas which would deliver the most impact on their goals

• The player onboarding journey
• Education of game mechanics

[3] They invested the time to watch people play their game & they embraced the feedback to shape the game with their community

What type of playtesting did they conduct?

They followed a similar pattern to Go Testify's recommended Player First Playtesting approach; however, Tobspr conducted more A/B Testing throughout, often launching two tests simultaneously and using more participants/large sample sizes to build confidence in their decisions.

Their playtesting journey to release:

• Early playtests focused on the first 30 minutes of the game with smaller sample sizes of 10 people.
  • Core Objective(s)
    • Gauge how easy it was for players to understand the mechanics based on how they communicated them in the game's UI.
    • Watch if players are using the mechanics correctly.
      
      
• Tobspr then moved to evaluate the first 1-2 hours of the game with 15 players or more
  • Core Objective(s)
    • Evaluate the onboarding and watch if players are using the mechanics correctly.
    • Ensure any new mechanics introduced later are being educated correctly.
    • Uncover what players are enjoying or not during the first few hours.
      
      
• Finally, Tobspr conducted progression playtesting with more than 20 people to evaluate the first 2-3 hours of Shapez 2.
  • Core Objective(s)
    • Assess how early education has impacted player behaviour and enjoyment over time.
    • Determine if there is any frustration or negativity that might cause refunds or affect the game's positive reception upon release.

When did Tobspr stop playtesting before release?

Even with over 600 hours of playtesting, they didn't stop and were still conducting external A/B Tests to polish the game a few weeks from release.

Results of Frequent Playtesting

"Shapez 2" by Tobspr stands as a testament to the value of having a player-first mindset and committing to capturing constant player feedback throughout development. They never left it to chance or until it was too late to make changes!

We expect the title to go from strength to strength during early access, and we'll update this article as the awards/recognitions start rolling in!

Below are several early quotes from the media and the Early Access trailer, so you can see what the hype is all about!