FEATURES OF MOBILE GAME APPLICATION TESTING COMPARED TO CLASSICAL SOFTWARE

Abstract

The article analyzes the specific features of testing mobile game applications in comparison with classical software products, including enterprise, desktop, and web-based systems. While traditional software quality assurance primarily focuses on functional correctness, data security, and compliance with formal requirements, mobile games impose additional and fundamentally different quality demands related to real-time interaction, emotional user engagement, and performance stability. Even minor defects in responsiveness, frame rate stability, or visual rendering can significantly affect player satisfaction, retention rates, and monetization outcomes.

The study highlights the non-linear nature of game logic, the high variability of gameplay scenarios, and the strong dependence on graphical rendering, physics engines, and player behavior, which collectively complicate the testing process. Unlike classical applications with predictable user flows, mobile games involve numerous dynamic states influenced by randomness, player actions, and real-time calculations. This significantly limits the effectiveness of traditional automated testing approaches and increases the importance of manual and semi-automated testing methods.

To empirically compare testing approaches, two experimental products were developed and analyzed: a classical mobile task management application and a casual 2D mobile game implemented using the Unity engine. Both products had comparable codebases and were tested on the same set of mobile devices. The results demonstrate that a substantial share of critical defects in the game application was detected exclusively through manual gameplay testing, particularly those related to state transitions, physics synchronization, and monetization logic.

Special attention is given to performance testing and behavioral analytics. Metrics such as frame rate stability, thermal throttling, battery consumption, and user interaction data were used to identify issues that are not detectable through conventional QA metrics. The findings confirm a strong correlation between defects in gameplay or monetization mechanisms and user churn.

The article concludes that quality assurance in mobile game development requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates software engineering practices, game design principles, UX evaluation, and data-driven analytics. Such an integrated testing strategy is essential for ensuring both technical reliability and commercial success of mobile game products.