The Heart of Game Design

Playtesting will take up the majority of your design cycle, and is easily the most important.

Games that seem amazing in our heads will quickly fall apart once we actually try them on the table. It's no fun getting punched, but you want to get it over with as quickly as you can. The faster you see what works and what doesn't, the faster your game will improve.

There are several types of playtests:

Solo Test

This should be the first type of testing you do. Just you, and the game. If it is a multiplayer game, simply play all the sides. After a while you will cultivate a good ability to use "selective amnesia", where you take each player's position as if you don't know about the plans and hidden information available to the other players.

In any case, the purpose here is not to figure out good strategies for players, or worry that things are balanced. It is simply to test out the flow and mechanics and see if what worked in your head works on the table.

Friends & Family Test

Once your solo tests run smoothly you can ask friends and family to try it out. Again, you're not worrying about balance or strategy. You're trying to see what works and what doesn't, what is confusing, and what takes too long.

OUTSIDE Playtest

Once the game is running smoothly you can start to have it playtested by outside groups. You may be able to arrange for a playtest at your local game store, or there are groups like Unpub and Protospiel that organize playtest events. Our member pages include lists of playtest groups around the world.

Outside playtests tend to give more honest feedback than your friends and family. That is why they are valuable.

Blind Playtest

In the earlier types of playtests you will typically teach the game, and possibly even play along. However, in the Blind Playtest you give the rules to the players and let them figure it out themselves. This can be done in person or remotely (sending the playtest kit to a group, for example). It is vital to make sure that the rules are easily understood without your intervention.

The designer does not come in the box!

Important: You will constantly looping through these tests. It is not a straight progression. After an issue with an Outside Playtest, you may want to test the changes first with a Solo Playtest, and proceed from there. You will constantly be iterating and reworking systems.

General Playtest Guidelines

Here are some general guidelines for playtesting:

• Your playtest materials do not need to be pretty, but they do need to be functional. Focus on graphic design - iconography, legibility, and things like that over fancy artwork. The less time you spend on your prototype materials the easier it will be emotionally for you to throw them away when they don't work (and they won't work, more often than not).

• Go into a playtest with an idea of what you want to get out of it. Specifically you should have a question you're trying to answer. It can be as broad as "is it fun", but also specific like "do players understand this specific mechanic", or "do they use this option", or "is this strategy overpowered".

• Be respectful of people's time. Don't force people to play something you haven't tested yourself and have some confidence is at least workable.

• Don't cheerlead during a test. Let the fun come from the players, not from you. (Note: If you're playing a game with a publisher who is interested in licensing it, please cheerlead as much as you can!)

• Don't argue with playtesters. If you get feedback from someone you don't think is fair, just take it in and move on. Don't try to convince them that something they think is broken actually works, or that they should have had fun when they didn't.

• You don't have to act on everything playtesters say. No game is for everyone, and they just may not like that type of game. Or they may not share your vision.



• In general playtesters are good at finding problems, but bad at finding solutions. You, as the designer, ultimately have the responsibility of deciding how to fix things, and what fits with your goals for the game.