Love it or hate it, playtesting is an absolutely vital part of game development. 

It’s tempting to sit in your room, polishing a game and trying to solve all the problems (and potential problems) before you ever put it in front of someone. But this is crazy. Games are designed to be played. You’ll learn more from playing your game with others, despite all its flaws, than you will tinkering with it on your own. 

There are all sorts of reasons why people avoid or delay playtesting. I’ve heard plenty of ‘excuses’. Let’s look at a few of them – and I’ll give you my response. Of course, this list is not exhaustive. 

A prototype with lots wrong!

“I don’t know how the game starts/finishes.”
That doesn’t matter. You can still test a mechanic. You can try part of the game. You can play until the mid-point, or set-up and start part way through. It’s easier to work out how the game starts or ends by playing it. You get a sense of how long the game should be and what players feel as if they are working towards. You learn how to get the game moving quickly – through experimentation, by playing. 

“I’ve not got any artwork done yet.”
Please! Don’t spend money on making a prototype. Make it playable. Make it so that playtesters can read the text and distinguish between the players, but don’t spend too much time on this and please don’t spend money. Your playtesters don’t need fancy artwork. They can imagine what the game will look like when it’s finished. After playtesting, the game will change. If you’re not prepared to change the game after a test, there’s honestly no point in playtesting it at all.

“I haven’t worked out what the structure/point values/number of actions should be yet.”
And? Test different things out. Honestly, that is what playtesting is for.

“I’m worried that someone will steal my idea.”
Don’t. Read my article: Why you need to stop worrying about protecting your idea.

Playtesting with family

But unless your family is packed with game designers, don’t fall into the trap of doing all your playtesting with them. Most people’s friends and family are their biggest champions. They tell you the game is brilliant because they think that everything you do is brilliant, or they have never designed a game and are very impressed that you have, or because they just want you to feel good. If you just test with family, then pitch your idea to publishers (or worse – sink money into self-publishing), you may be heading for a shock.

Game designers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, regular playtesting with other designers is the single most important aspect of my own professional development. I learn as much from testing my own games as I do from testing others. I absorb ideas, feedback and criticism, whether it’s directed at my games or not. Game designers don’t hold back. They tell you how it is. Your game needs that. Other designers have tackled the same problems that you face in your game already. They have seen solutions that work. They can predict problems you might not have thought about. They are good at analysis and skilled at providing feedback. Ok – not all of them, but these are skills you develop the more you playtest, so regular playtesting sharpens these skills.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, regular playtesting with other designers is the single most important aspect of my own professional development. I learn as much from testing my own games as I do from testing others. I absorb ideas, feedback and criticism, whether it’s directed at my games or not. Game designers don’t hold back. They tell you how it is. Your game needs that. Other designers have tackled the same problems that you face in your game already. They have seen solutions that work. They can predict problems you might not have thought about. They are good at analysis and skilled at providing feedback. Ok – not all of them, but these are skills you develop the more you playtest, so regular playtesting sharpens these skills.

In the UK we are lucky to have the fabulous Playtest UK network – run by Rob Harris. Playtest UK meet in different places around the UK. Check the listings and register to join a meetup here. If you’re somewhere else in the world, search threads or create a thread in the board game creation forum on Board Game Geek to find playtesting groups near you. 

Target Audience

Testing with the target audience for your game is helpful – particularly towards the end of the development process. You want to make sure it lands as you hope it will. If you’re designing a game for 6 year olds, but have never met one, you probably want to change that. Find a friendly family who can test your game out (not your own). Your target audience will probably be quite focussed on winning the game. They’ll want to play to the end and they’ll not be so forgiving of changes made during the course of the game. 

With a hobby game, you’ll want to test with hobby gamers. If your game requires a lot of balancing, to make sure that certain combinations of cards and abilities are not overpowered, then you may need to do a fair amount of late stage testing. The problem is that even one minor change to the game can throw the whole system off and you’ll have to start your playtests all over again. As my friend and fellow designer, David Brain says, “Your game will be played more on the day it is released than you could possibly play up to that point. You can’t test every card combination before release – it would never make it to market.” This is why publishers often release updates to a game within a few months. 

Monteiro goes on to say, “You have to be open to good ideas that come from places other than your own head. There’s a balance between defending your own work and being open to ideas that takes a long time to develop. It takes confidence, intelligence and an open mind to allow others to help you make your work better. And it takes a thick head not to.” 

Amen.