Publishing Advice #25: Playing vs Playtesting

As you probably noticed, quite often I'm writing about being efficient and productive. As a father of six plus one on the way with a "normal" job, my time resources are very limited. All that forced me to think more about time management!

And as you probably already know (especially if you are reading my blog), playtesting is one of the aspects where you can waste a lot of time.

And I'm often seeing that some designers and publishers are advertising their games as playtested 100 times or even 1000 times. But that can be quite misleading as not everyone understands what playtesting means.

Did you ever think that playing a prototype doesn't mean playtesting it? Are you really playtesting your prototype? Actually, it's critical to distinguish these two things. Let's then have a better look on this!

Publishing Advice #24: Four Types of Playtesters

About two weeks ago I had a privilege of taking part in Ignacy Trzewiczek's conference about board game design. Having a chance to listen to one of the most experienced and respectful board game designers is the best way to learn new things and avoid mistakes! A significant part of the speech was dedicated to playtesting prototypes. And a big part of it about categorising playtesters. I never thought that different types of playtesters are helpful in various stages of the game development. And sometimes certain kinds of playtesters can be even harmful. Here's what I learned:

Mateusz at Pyrkon 2017 - Biggest Polish Fantasy Convention

A last minute info!

I'm visiting Poland to bring Krill prototype to the biggest Polish fantasy convention Pyrkon. Come along and say hi! It will be lovely to meet you and have a quick play with you in my new game. Very exciting!

You can find me at my fellow publisher's stand - company Let's Play. Let's play is known from their game Labyrinth: Paths of Destiny.

See you soon.

Krill Diary #2: Prototypes for Playtesting

It's obvious that proper prototypes are crucial in game playtesting. The same game can provide players different experiences depending on how the prototype is made. That's why I'm always trying to make the best prototypes from the very beginning. 

Today I'll write about Krill prototypes which I made for playtesting and blind playtesting, and below you can find a short tutorial how to create a prototype like mine. I know that every designer has their own favourite method of making prototypes for their games that suit their needs; however, I'm sure that you'll find this article useful.

Krill Diary #1: Introduction

It was a beautiful evening; my children were hanging around looking to do something interesting. We needed a good plan how to finish the day! There was a little vote, and yes, everyone chose movie Happy Feet 2! It was probably a millionth time I watched it; however, the movie was still enjoyable.

During the film, Magda asked me a question: Daddy, why you won't design a board game?

As going back to design and publishing was on my mind for a while, I did like that idea!

It sounds like a good thing to do Magdalena! So what's your idea? - I asked

Maybe create a game about krill! - she answered