Introducing automated testing to video game development via Behaviour-Driven Development

Abstract

Game Software Engineering has emerged as a specialized field distinct from traditional software engineering, addressing unique challenges inherent to the creative process of game development, but lagging behind in using new methods of software engineering. This paper introduces the method of Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) to game software engineering. BDD is popular in software engineering for modelling and testing software. In this paper, we first propose a development process for applying BDD in game development. Then, we provide an integration of BDD tooling in Unity 3D, a major platform for game development. Next, we present a framework for identifying and categorizing game behaviours, to cater for modelling game behaviours in BDD scenarios. Finally, we show applicability of these three contributions on a real-world case study.

Keywords

Behaviour-Driven Development, Video game development, Automated testing, Software engineering.

Cite as:

Michael Mulder, Petra van den Bos, “Introducing automated testing to video game development via Behaviour-Driven Development”, Journal of Object Technology, Volume 24, no. 2 (May 2025), pp. 2:1-14, doi:10.5381/jot.2025.24.2.a5.