Lysto vs PlayProbe

Lysto is a Player Experience Platform that turns feedback from real players into insights for game studios. Its research covers concept validation, first-time user experience, retention, gameplay, go-to-market, monetization, usability, publisher readiness, player archetypes, competitive studies, and funding or investment research. Gameplay Experience Evaluation looks for enjoyment and frustration moments, challenge balance, and features linked to replayability and longer-term engagement. Studios can run concept tests, single-session or multi-session playtests, and longitudinal studies. Lysto AI summarizes comprehension, friction, flow, and challenge, then tags confusion, hesitation, frustration, and delight with timestamps. The company says its global panel contains over 1 million verified gamers filterable by demographics, genre, and experience. Pricing is on request, with project-based studies or 12–18 month enterprise research plans. Android builds can be uploaded without SDK or code changes, while iOS testing uses live App Store builds. PC playtests use cloud streaming so players do not download builds. The platform itself is limited to laptop or desktop devices and must remain full-screen.

PlayProbe provides link-based playtesting for indie games, collecting survey responses, screen recordings, and optional Unity telemetry in a dashboard. Developers link to builds hosted elsewhere or embed WebGL builds in a session page; PlayProbe does not host game builds. Testers can open a session link without an account, and surveys run in a browser. Pre- and post-play surveys support ratings, multiple choice, emoji scales, and open text. The dashboard groups responses by rating distribution, text response, and question. Builds can be linked from itch.io, Steam Playtest, or any download URL. The Pro Unity SDK can log custom events, track FPS, catch crashes, and trigger surveys during play. Pro recordings capture the tester’s whole screen, are visible only to the developer, and are retained for 30 days. Supported builds include Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and WebGL; consoles are not supported. Free costs nothing for one game, three tests, and 20 sessions per test. Pro costs $19 a month and includes unlimited games and tests, up to 200 sessions per test, screen recording, and Unity SDK access.