Test a Game Type
A safe way to preview any game type on your own site before going live, for free and without creating a real winner.
Before you launch a competition with a game type, it is a good idea to see exactly how it looks and plays on your own site. This page walks you through a simple way to test any game (Spin the Wheel, Slots, Scratch Card, Pot Drop and the rest) safely, without charging anyone and without creating a real winner.
How testing works
The trick is to set up a temporary competition that only you can see, that costs nothing to enter, and where the odds of actually winning are tiny. That lets you play through the game as many times as you like just to check the look and feel, then remove it when you are done.
In short:
Keep the competition inactive so only you (as an admin) can view it.
Set the price to free so nothing is charged and nothing goes through your payment gateway.
Set the tickets to the maximum and add a single instant win, so you are extremely unlikely to actually win while testing.
Delete the competition once you have finished. Never make it live.
Step by step
Create a new competition. Follow the usual steps in Create a Competition. Give it a clear title such as "TEST, do not publish" so you can recognise it later.
Leave it inactive. Do not turn on the Active toggle. While a competition is inactive, your customers cannot see it, but you can still view it on your site because you are logged in as an admin.
Set the price to 0. A free competition does not charge anyone and does not send anything to your payment gateway, so testing costs you nothing.
Choose the game type you want to test from the Game Type dropdown (for example Spin the Wheel or Scratch Card).
Set Max Tickets to the maximum allowed (up to one million). This is what keeps your chance of winning tiny in the next step.
Add a single instant win. Follow Add Instant Wins and add just one prize with one winning ticket. A game type only appears for the customer when the competition has at least one instant win, so this step is what makes the game show up.
Save the competition.
View and play your test
While logged in as an admin, open the competition on your live site (the public competition page, not the admin panel).
Add a ticket to your basket and check out. Because the competition is free, you will not be charged and nothing goes through your payment gateway.
Once the order completes, the game plays just as it would for a real customer. Watch it through and check the animation, sounds, branding and overall feel.
Repeat as many times as you like until you are happy with how it looks.
Replay without ordering again
Once you have placed that first order, you do not need to order again every time you make a change. There is a quicker way to keep testing:
Leave the order confirmation page open (the "thank you" page that appears straight after you check out, where the game plays). It helps to keep this tab open, or bookmark it so you can come back to it.
In a separate tab, edit your competition in the admin panel. Change the game type, swap an image, update a sound or a background, then Save.
Go back to the order confirmation tab and refresh the page.
The game plays through again and picks up the latest changes you saved, so you can compare versions in seconds.
When you are finished
That is it. When you create the real version of your competition, set it up properly with your true prize, ticket numbers and price, and turn on the Active toggle to publish it.
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