What should a game health dashboard show?

Show the key health metrics at a glance, broken down per version, based on real player data. The core metrics are crash rate (or crash-free rate, the share of sessions/players without a crash), the number of players affected by issues, and your top issues ranked by impact, the numbers that tell you whether the game is healthy, displayed clearly without burying them in noise so you can see your game's health in seconds. Break these down per version so a new build performing worse than the previous one stands out (since aggregate numbers hide regressions, and you keep shipping updates whose health you need to evaluate), and surface what's changed or regressed (a spiking crash rate, a new high-impact issue) so the dashboard actively highlights problems rather than just displaying static numbers. If your game has online features, include server health and player-facing error rates. Base everything on real player data from the field, including device and version context, so the dashboard reflects what players actually experience (including the device-specific problems your own machine hides) rather than a misleading best-case view. The goal of a health dashboard is an at-a-glance picture of whether your game is healthy that surfaces problems before they spread, so it should show the key health metrics clearly (for quick comprehension), per version (to catch regressions), with changes surfaced (to highlight problems), on real player data (to reflect reality). A focused dashboard with these, crash rate/crash-free rate, affected players, top issues, per version, on real data, with regressions and spikes surfaced, lets you quickly assess your game's health and catch problems early, which is the dashboard's purpose, rather than an overwhelming wall of metrics that obscures the health picture.

How do I know if my game is healthy?

Look at your key health metrics, crash rate (or crash-free rate), affected players, and top issues, per version and from real player data, ideally at a glance on a health dashboard. The clearest single indicator is crash rate (or its inverse, crash-free rate, the share of sessions or players without a crash): a low, stable crash rate means the game is reliably working for most players, while a high or rising one signals stability problems. Track it per version so you can tell whether each new build is healthy relative to the last (catching regressions), and from real player data in the field so it reflects what players actually experience (including device-specific problems your machine hides) rather than a best-case view from your own testing. Beyond crash rate, look at the number of players affected by your top issues (to gauge how widespread problems are) and at whether any metric is spiking or a new high-impact issue has appeared (signaling an emerging problem). If your game has online features, healthy server metrics and low player-facing error rates matter too. Essentially, a healthy game is one where the key health metrics, crash rate/crash-free rate above all, are good and stable on real player data across your current versions, with no spikes or new high-impact issues, while an unhealthy game shows a high or rising crash rate, many players affected by issues, or a new build performing worse than the last (a regression). A game health dashboard that shows these metrics at a glance, per version, on real data, with changes surfaced, lets you assess health quickly and continuously, so you know your game is healthy when the dashboard shows good, stable crash-free rates and no emerging problems, and you know it's not when the dashboard shows a high or spiking crash rate, widespread issues, or a regression. The key is to judge health by real-player crash metrics tracked per version, not by how the game runs on your own machine (which is the best case) or by the absence of reports (since most problems go unreported), so capturing crashes from the field and monitoring the resulting health metrics is what tells you whether your game is actually healthy for your players.

Should a small team have a game health dashboard?

Yes, a game health dashboard is valuable for a small team, arguably more so, because it gives you an efficient, at-a-glance way to know whether your game is healthy without the time to dig through data, which matters when you have limited time and no dedicated ops or analytics people. For a small team, the dashboard's value is leverage: instead of manually checking various data sources or being unaware of your game's health, a focused dashboard shows the key health metrics (crash rate/crash-free rate, affected players, top issues, per version, from real player data) at a glance, so you can assess your game's health in seconds and spot emerging problems quickly, even amid limited time. This is especially important post-launch, when problems keep arriving and you need to stay aware of your game's health continuously, a dashboard (combined with alerts for spikes) lets a small team maintain that awareness efficiently, catching regressions and emerging issues without constant manual monitoring. The dashboard doesn't need to be elaborate, a focused view of the core health metrics (crash-free rate, affected players, top issues by impact, broken down per version, on real player data, with spikes and regressions surfaced) is what a small team needs, more than a sprawling array of metrics that would take time to interpret. Tools that capture crashes from the field and surface these metrics (crash rate per version, affected players, ranked issues) effectively provide this dashboard, so a small team gets the health view without building it from scratch. So yes, a small team should have a game health dashboard, because it provides the efficient at-a-glance health awareness that a time-constrained team especially needs, letting you know whether your game is healthy and catch problems early without the manual effort or dedicated personnel a larger team might have. The key is keeping it focused on the metrics that actually indicate health (crash-free rate and friends, per version, on real data), so it serves its purpose, quick health comprehension and early problem detection, rather than becoming an overwhelming, time-consuming dashboard. Combined with alerts (so spikes reach you without watching the dashboard), a focused health dashboard is a high-leverage tool for a small team to stay on top of their live game's health.

Best Practices for a Game Health Dashboard

Quick answer: Show the key health metrics at a glance (crash rate, crash-free rate, affected players, per version), surface what's changed or regressed, and base it on real player data. A good dashboard surfaces problems before they spread.

A game health dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of whether your game is healthy. Here are the best practices for a game health dashboard.

Show the Key Health Metrics at a Glance

A dashboard's value is quick comprehension, so show the key health metrics at a glance, crash rate, crash-free rate, affected players, the numbers that tell you if the game is healthy, without burying them in noise. A focused dashboard lets you see your game's health in seconds.

Bugnet surfaces crash rate, affected players, and per-version data. Showing the key health metrics at a glance is the core of a health dashboard, since its value is letting you quickly see whether your game is healthy.

Break Down Per Version and Surface What Changed

Aggregate numbers hide regressions, so break the dashboard down per version and surface what's changed or regressed, so a new build performing worse stands out. Per-version breakdown and change-surfacing turn a dashboard from a static number into a problem-detector.

Bugnet tracks per version and alerts on spikes, so changes and regressions surface. Breaking down per version and surfacing what changed is what makes a health dashboard catch problems, by isolating each build and highlighting what's worse.

Base It on Real Player Data

A dashboard is only useful if it reflects what players actually experience, so base it on real player data from the field, including device context. Real-data dashboards show your game's true health, including the device-specific problems your machine hides.

Bugnet captures crashes from real players with device context, so the dashboard reflects reality. So practice a game health dashboard by showing key health metrics at a glance, breaking down per version and surfacing changes, and basing it on real player data, giving an at-a-glance picture that surfaces problems before they spread.

Show the key health metrics at a glance (crash rate, crash-free rate, affected players, per version), surface what's changed or regressed, and base it on real player data. A good dashboard surfaces problems before they spread.