That's a good question.

I think if you say something like "LOOKING FOR PLAYTESTERS" it might sound a little too formal; like you're asking someone to really dedicate a lot of time and formally submit feedback forms and look extensively for bugs.

Instead, I think you're better off just showing off a work-in-progress game online and then asking if anyone wants to try it. Or simply putting a free demo up on itch.io and getting feedback from people in the comments. I feel like itch.io users are fairly accustomed to playing small projects and early prototypes, and most users are pretty helpful in the comments from what I've seen.

Longer answer below!

With INDIE INTERVIEWS, I talk to the game developers hanging here on Cohost to learn more about new games you might love.

There's a lot of different paths up the indie dev mountain! Everyone's coming at it from different angles, different life experiences. Today I have an interview with @danielleri, the current EIC of GameDeveloper.com, about her path up that mountain! And even better, she has been collecting a lot of useful tips and tools to help devs start climbing.

You can find The Tunnel on itch.io

Introduce yourself for everyone here on Cohost! Who are you?

Hi! I’m Danielle Riendeau, I’m the editor-in-chief of Game Developer (dot com!) formerly of Fanbyte, Waypoint, and Polygon. I’m also a hobbyist game dev (been making and releasing tiny games since around 2013-2014), a game design lecturer at the Berklee College of Music, and a volunteer EMT here in Brooklyn and Queens. I also do submission grappling and I’m learning some basic pixel art these days to help out with my tiny game projects!

How did you find yourself first getting into the games industry?

This is a bit weird but I went to grad school for film production, and found myself in the exciting (to me, at the time, this is like 2006-2009) world of freelance writing to help support myself. I always wrote about games—and film, and other media—and while I started my full time career in the nonprofit world, I freelanced for places like Kill Screen and EGM and G4 until, one day, Polygon had an opening for a full time reviews writer. So! I’ve been writing about games full time since 2013. As I mentioned above, I’ve been making games (and teaching) since around then (or before, in terms of teaching), so I’ve always been involved in multiple sides of the space. I’m one of those writers who does think having a bit of experience making the type of art you comment on/report on is helpful (not everyone agrees with this! But this is discourse from another era, lol).

You have experience in teaching, in games journalism, in indie game dev, and in being a volunteer EMT. This might be ridiculous to ask, but...is there anything you've learned over the years that you feel has helped you across all four fields? Are there any similarities between, say, games and being an EMT?

ghostpia Season One

Developed by Chosuido, 超水道

Published by room6, yokaze

" "In my dreams, I can get out. In my dreams, I can fit in." 'ghostpia' mixes the adorable art style of an illustrated book with glitches-and-noise effects. There are no choices to be made. There's only a lonely girl in a ghost town and her story full of mystery, friendhood...and a bit of violence."

You can find ghostpia on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

You can view the creators' credits and social media links on the game's official website or follow Chosuido on Twitter

Whisker Squadron: Survivor

Developed by Flippfly LLC

Published by Flippfly LLC

"A cosmic roguelite on-rails shooter with wild 30-minute runs that will take your feline flight crew to thrilling new heights with each randomized adventure. Your plan is simple: wreak vengeance on the Swarm and try to survive."

You can find Whisker Squadron: Survivor on Steam

You can find Flippfly LLC on Twitter