At some point, every team reaches a limit. The game becomes too big to test casually, and suddenly small bugs start slipping through. Someone says, “We really need proper QA.” Another replies, “We can’t afford that right now.”

Both are right.

Good QA doesn’t always require a new hire or an entire department. It requires clarity. Knowing who tests, when they test, and how testing fits into your daily rhythm. Whether you’re working solo or managing a small team, what matters most is that testing happens intentionally, not randomly.

What a QA Role Really Means

When most people hear “QA,” they think bug reports.
In reality, QA is structure. It’s the link between creativity and reliability. It ensures that ideas make it safely from design to player experience without getting lost in technical errors.

Having QA in your team does much more than just reducing crashes or pointing out misalignments. It gives you confidence to move faster. You can make changes knowing someone is watching the ripple effects. You can take creative risks without fearing that one new feature will break five others.

If you can afford a dedicated QA specialist, hire one early. If you can’t, build a system that mimics what a good QA would do - clear routines, shared visibility, and brutally honest reporting.

If You Can Hire a QA Specialist

Even one experienced tester can change how your team works.
A good tester saves more time than they spend. They spot the hidden costs - unstable builds, inconsistent logic, missing dependencies before they snowball into pre-launch chaos.

Here’s what to focus on:

1. Hire for curiosity and communication.
Testing is both about exploring and structured runs. Look for people who enjoy finding patterns, asking why something behaves a certain way, and explaining their findings clearly. A curious tester who communicates well is worth more than three who only follow checklists.

2. Bring them in early.
Don’t wait for Alpha. A tester who understands your systems from the start will write better reports, recognize patterns faster, and anticipate design conflicts before they happen.

3. Integrate QA into your workflow, not beside it.
QA should attend sprint reviews, milestone meetings, and playtests. They should see how the game evolves and what the team is prioritizing. When QA is included in planning, they help spot potential risks before code is even written.

4. Define responsibilities clearly.
A QA specialist’s role goes beyond “finding bugs.” They manage bug databases, coordinate test plans, verify fixes, and maintain stability records. Treat them like a partner, not a filter.

5. Give them ownership.
The best QA professionals feel responsible for quality as a whole, not just individual bugs. Encourage that mindset. Their success is your game’s success.

If You Can’t Hire Yet

You can still have strong QA, even if your team is small or self-funded. It starts with making quality a shared responsibility.

1. Rotate QA ownership.
Every sprint, pick one person to act as QA coordinator. Their job is to test the build thoroughly, gather feedback from everyone else, and track issues until they’re resolved. This rotation spreads awareness and keeps testing fresh.

2. Test everything, together.
Don’t limit testing by discipline. The artist should playtest just as much as the developer. The designer should check performance just as much as the producer. Everyone sees the game differently and that’s what makes full-team testing powerful.

Each profession brings its own instinct. Developers notice logic errors, designers feel pacing issues and artists see immersion breaks. These perspectives complement one another. The goal is to combine perspectives so the game feels right from every angle.

3. Use simple documentation tools.
You don’t need enterprise-level QA systems to stay organized. A shared Google Sheet or Notion board works fine as long as it’s consistent. Include columns for build number, description, steps to reproduce, priority, and status. Encourage everyone to log issues the moment they find them. (you can find a ready-to-use template here)

4. Keep things visible.
The biggest killer of QA in small teams is silence. Make your QA board public within your workspace. If bugs and tasks are visible, people naturally take them seriously.

5. Close the loop.
Every week, pick a short slot (even 15 minutes) for a QA sync. Review top issues, assign them and confirm what’s resolved. Don’t treat it as a meeting. Treat it as a checkpoint for progress.

Documenting Without Slowing Down

Good QA documentation doesn’t need to be heavy.
You just need clarity. What’s tested, what’s broken, what’s fixed.

A small team can operate with just four simple files or tabs:

1. Bug Log: all issues in one place.

2. Test Checklist: what gets checked every milestone.

3. Build Summary: a short note describing what was tested, what passed, and what remains unstable.

The goal isn’t paperwork. It’s visibility. You want anyone (be it developer, producer, or tester) to open a single sheet and know the build’s true state.

A Healthy QA Mindset

Whether you have a dedicated tester or not, the right mindset makes all the difference.
Quality isn’t owned by a department. It’s something everyone contributes to through attention and care.

When testing becomes part of your studio’s culture, it stops being “extra work.” It becomes instinct. You start catching issues while they’re forming, not after they’ve clogged your game.

In every team I’ve seen, the strongest results come from people who test with empathy. They go beyond just looking for what’s wrong. They imagine how the player feels when it happens. That perspective turns testing into a creative act.

Example: Small Studio QA Setup

Imagine a five-person indie team:

• One programmer

• One designer

• One artist

• One producer

• One part-time QA

Every week, the entire team plays the latest build together. Everyone tests everything, from menus and saving to combat and UI flow.

One person takes notes, logs them in the tracker, and verifies fixes after the next build.
That’s QA. Simple, collaborative, and effective.

When everyone is responsible, nobody says, “I thought someone else was testing that.”

If You Don’t Have QA Staff, Do This Instead

Checklist for Internal QA Readiness

• Everyone knows how to log bugs properly.

• The team tests every feature in full, not just “their part.”

• Issues are tracked in one shared system.

• QA sessions are scheduled, not improvised.

• The team revisits fixed bugs regularly to avoid issues coming back.

If you can check these boxes, you already have a foundation stronger than most small studios.

Closing Thoughts

A great QA process requires commitment.
Assign ownership, build habits, keep visibility high, and encourage curiosity across every role.

When everyone plays the game with a tester’s eye, quality becomes part of your identity, not an afterthought. That’s how small teams start feeling like big ones. Not because of headcount, but because of discipline.