Hi! I'm Emil from Voxel Pulse Games. Alongside our games, I've been building Proving Ground, a site where indie games at any stage, from browser demos to Steam releases, get rated by players who actually played. I'll use this thread to share progress, real numbers, and what I learn.
Why I'm building it
Our own games kept getting a row of stars from people who'd played for 20 seconds. That tells you nothing. I wanted ratings I could trust and feedback I could act on.
What's working so far
- Ratings need real play. On browser games, the site counts playtime and a rating only unlocks after 5 minutes. Every rating shows how long the player played, and Top rated only counts those ratings.
- Feedback you can act on. Developers can reply to a review, mark an issue as fixed in a version, and feature the best reviews as badges for a Steam page or website.
- AI labels. Every game says how much AI was used in making it, from none to AI-created.
- Paid playtests. Developers can pay testers for an honest written report.
New this week: the feedback swap
Small sites have a chicken-and-egg problem: no players, no feedback. So developers can now earn credits by playing another developer's game for 10 minutes and writing them at least 150 characters of useful feedback. Three credits move your own game to the top of "Needs feedback" for three days.
To keep it honest, credits never depend on the stars you give, you can only earn one credit per developer every 30 days, there's no credit for reviewing someone who just reviewed you, and a credit is taken back if the rating is deleted.
Next up
Getting the first outside developers on board, and nudging developers to share their best reviews as badges. Your first game slot is free if you want to try it with a browser build.
A question for you: what's the most useful feedback you've ever had on a game, and where did it come from? I'd love to hear it, and to know what would make a site like this worth your time.