they are asking for normal people to play parts of their game yes... the thing is Playing a game isn't the same thing as 'testing' a game, testing is a skill you have to teach or learn
you are describing QA work, but I don’t think that is what those are for. I have heard some dev say how incredibly valuable it is to get fresh eyes and hands on your games - see if people notice and interact with stuff in UI, see how they approach quests, how do they navigate the map, do they pay attention to the things you want them to etc. That is not a perspective that someone who knows and works on the game can really provide.