Setting Playtesting Goals
We all know we should playtest our games, but not all playtests are created equal. Playtesting without a plan can push your game forward, but will it? It seems that the more designers I meet, the more I find that the successful ones approach each playtest with some kind of goal in mind.
I tend to think of playtesting goals in terms of questions that the designer is looking to answer by the end of the playtest. Those questions might look something like:
Early Tests
Is anything about this game fun?
Is anything about this game new or unique?
What other games in this genre should I be looking at?
Is this even a game?
Whatever these questions look like at the time, they are all always trying to answer one ultimate question at this stage: is this idea worth pursuing, or should I spend my energy elsewhere?
Some goals are easier than others.
Middle Tests
If you’ve decided the core of the game is interesting enough to move forward with, it’s time to answer some different kinds of questions.
What’s getting in the way of the fun?
What’s clunky, and what is elegant?
What should be cut?
What is and isn’t intuitive?
Is this game replayable?
The ultimate goal at this stage is to deal with all the big-picture issues, answering the bigger question of, is this game good?
Sometimes the road is unclear.
Late Tests
If a game is good, it’s time to move on and make it as refined an experience as possible. Once I have a good game, my questions get a lot more nit-picky:
Are the strategies more or less balanced?
Can players understand the game without input from the designer?
What should and shouldn’t be on the player aid?
Are there grammatical errors?
Do these card wordings make sense?
All of these questions are leading to the ultimate question: is this game ready to pitch?
But goals can take you to places you might not have thought possible.
You Might Have Different Questions.
Mine are just examples. The specific questions are hardly important. What is important, is having them in the first place. Goals push your games forward in this process. Sure, there are times in the short term where you may take the occasional step back - but if you consistently approach playtesting with your goals in mind, your games will move forward in the long term, to pitching, to self-publishing, or whatever your plan might be.
