LinkedIn - Teaching Automated Tests to Play Word Searches
- She Dreams with AIs
- May 10, 2025
- 2 min read
๐๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐!
In development version of the game:
๐ง โจ When human thought patterns and AI coding collide
Hello everybody. I survived the flu! ๐ It was no match for an indie game dev on a mission. Since getting back to work, Iโve been pushing boundaries by combining human insight with AI assistance to create a player perspective testing solution.
For my narrative driven word search game, Chronicles of the Kethaneum, I faced a knotty question: how do I automate gameplay testing for a word search puzzle that relies on human reasoning and pattern recognition?
It turns out the answer was: You teach your AIs your own mental process!
With the help of Claude from Anthropic, I was able to create a test that plays the puzzle like I do โ scanning for certain letter combinations, checking in all valid directions for the rest of the word, and selecting the word in the grid. This automation would have taken me much longer to code solo. But with AI assistance, I created a functional script that runs in Cypress.io in less than an hour, and it works with the randomly generated word search grids and word lists. ๐
Here what Iโve learned:
โจ AIs don't replace a human tester โ they super charge them.
โจ Thoughtfully combining technologies lets indie developers punch far above their weightclass.
โจ Human test strategy combined with AI code execution can even bring complex player behavior to your tests.
Iโm excited to keep sharing more of the Chronicles of the Kethaneum development journey as I build toward full release. The story centers on a cosmic narrative, casual word search puzzles, themes of loss and change, and the cost of perfection! But behind the scenes, itโs also the story about the resilience and adaptability of an indie with a dream. It may be hard to break into the video game industry but I won't let that slow me down or stop me from making games!
If youโre into:
โจ Games that tell meaningful stories
โจ Testing that goes beyond the usual UI checks
โจ Using AI as a collaborator, not just a toolโฆ
Then give me a follow or connect. ๐ซฑ๐ฝโ๐ซฒ๐ฝ
As always, I am still looking for my next job opportunity so please let me know if you hear of someone needing a Bug Whisperer of a QA, point someone in my direction, or just drop a Hi in the comments. A "hi" or "have a great day" would mean a lot in this slog that is searching for a job. ๐ But, no matter what today throws at you, know that you are awesome! Have a great day, everybody.
Look guys! Now I am branching out into video creation... Gosh that means I am going to have to follow the cool kids over to TikTok soon, huh? ๐ฑ
#GameDev #IndieGameDev #AIinTesting #NarrativeDesign #ClaudeAI #AutomationTesting #Cypressio #Innovation #WordSearch #ChroniclesOfTheKethaneum #WomenInTech #StorytellingInGames #Indierevolution
