> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.pickfu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Validating your game concept with PickFu: guide and FAQs

> Use this step-by-step guide to validate your game concept, art direction, and core mechanics with real players before committing dev resources.

PickFu's game concept validation playbook helps you validate a mobile game's mechanics, art direction, features, and overall concept with real players before you commit development resources. This article covers how to start it, additional pre-development questions worth testing, and answers to common questions.

[<img src="https://mintcdn.com/pickfu/8UEzXNYYcoqAMZDC/images/help/en/validating-your-game-concept-with-pickfu-getting-started-advanced-tests-faqs/d513539c2a332ff31dafa869de41de9b.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=8UEzXNYYcoqAMZDC&q=85&s=85b7054deb2cb2c1bedd3529f8769c15" alt="Example PickFu art-direction test: three visual styles for a mobile strategy game ranked by player preference with an AI summary of the mood each conveys" width="1200" height="850" data-path="images/help/en/validating-your-game-concept-with-pickfu-getting-started-advanced-tests-faqs/d513539c2a332ff31dafa869de41de9b.jpg" />](../images/help/en/validating-your-game-concept-with-pickfu-getting-started-advanced-tests-faqs/d513539c2a332ff31dafa869de41de9b.jpg)

*Example result: an art-direction test ranks visual styles by player preference and summarizes the mood each one conveys.*

# Run the core playbook

The step-by-step concept-validation playbook — competitive research, core mechanics, art direction, feature priorities, and overall concept validation — now lives in our docs:

👉 [**Run the step-by-step game concept validation playbook →**](https://www.pickfu.com/docs/playbooks/game-concept-validation)

**Starting it in the app:** log into PickFu, find the **Playbooks** section on your dashboard, and click the concept-validation playbook. You'll get a pre-built project with a link to run each test, plus an AI-powered report across all of them. ([More on using playbooks →](/help/how-do-i-use-playbooks-to-build-my-poll))

# More pre-development questions to test

Beyond the core five steps, these tests answer other pre-production questions. Run any of them as standalone tests.

**Willingness-to-pay research** — understand what players will spend on before committing to a monetization model.
​\_"What are you most willing to spend money on in a mobile \[GENRE] game?"\_
Poll type: Multi-Select, Ranked, or Open-Ended

**IP / license audience validation** — for games based on licensed IP, confirm the audience cares about it.
​\_"Are you a fan of \[IP/FRANCHISE]?"\_ followed by *"What would you expect in a mobile game based on \[IP]?"*
Poll type: Survey (Q1 Single Select Yes/No, Q2 Open-Ended)

**World / theme selection** — test which setting creates the most excitement before world-building begins.
​\_"If you could start an adventure in one of the following worlds, which would you be MOST excited to explore?"\_
Poll type: Ranked

**Character design preference** — identify which character archetypes resonate.
​\_"Which of these characters would you most want to play as in a mobile \[GENRE] game? What appeals to you about them?"\_
Poll type: Ranked

# FAQs

## My overall concept scored below 3.0 stars. What now?

Read the qualitative feedback before deciding. Low scores usually trace to one of three things: the concept description didn't communicate clearly, the art style mismatched genre expectations, or the core concept isn't resonating. Identify the culprit, revise, and re-test the final validation step before moving forward.

## How do I write a good concept description?

Keep it to 2–3 sentences covering the essentials: genre (what type of game?), core mechanic (how does it play?), and setting (where does it take place?). Avoid jargon and feature lists — describe it the way you'd describe it to a friend who doesn't work in games.

## Should I target general mobile gamers or a specific genre audience?

Target the genre your game is entering, then layer in demographic traits (age, gender, spending habits) as needed. For broad casual games, general mobile-gamer targeting works well; for niche genres, be as specific as possible.

## How many respondents do I need?

100 per step gives solid directional data for pre-development decisions. Use 50 for early-stage tests to save budget, then re-test with 100+ before locking major decisions.

## Can I run the steps out of order?

Step 1 (competitive research) works best first since it informs everything after. Steps 2–4 are flexible once you have that foundation. Step 5 (overall concept validation) works best last — it's the final pre-production gate.

# Related

* [Step-by-step game concept validation playbook (docs)](https://www.pickfu.com/docs/playbooks/game-concept-validation)

* [ASO playbook (docs)](https://www.pickfu.com/docs/playbooks/app-store-listing) — optimize the store listing once the game is built

***

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