A Glimpse into Tabletop Development: Playtesting

A couple weeks ago there was a “Meet the Party” post. These party members meet almost every Sunday to play Alex’s developing tabletops/expansions and help him with playtesting. Included is a photo of the party playtesting an upcoming War and Aether Expansion. Keep scrolling to get a glimpse from Alex’s view of how playtesting is a vital part of the tabletop development process!

Q1: How do you determine a tabletop is playtestable?

Alex Zubarev (AZ): As soon as all of the core, foundational systems are in place and running. The game doesn’t need to be finished, and it definitely doesn’t need to be perfect, it only needs to be playable to start testing. Making sure I have the dice system in place, at least some introductory equipment and creatures to fight, and the framework for a working character progression system. Whenever I have a brand-new tabletop or game idea, I usually end up hyperfocusing on it and getting it to this Alpha Testing phase as soon as possible.

Q2: What are certain things you look for while playtesting?

AZ: Practicality, balance, and enjoyment. In my games, I want all playstyles to have practical use and importance. Some players lean towards the Most-Effective-Tactic-Available (META), and some players steer far away from it - and I particularly want the players steering away from any META to still feel like they’re an important part of the game. But there’s also balance, trying to make sure that some play styles aren’t more powerful than others - or if they are, that there’s a reason, reward, and difficulty curve for doing so. As a developer, I’m always keeping an eye on the balance of the game and doing my best to ensure that no play style feels too weak, or too powerful. But at the end of the day, the game has to be fun. If someone is playing with a particular mechanic or system, and they just aren’t having fun with it, that’s cause-enough to change it.

Q3: How does the tabletop evolve throughout the playtesting period?

AZ: Dramatically. Entire gameplay systems can rise and fall during the playtesting period. You play around with it, see what works, see what doesn’t, and keep an eye on the overall health and economy of the game. And as the development process goes on, sometimes systems take priority over others as a result of circumstance. For example if a player wants to be an alchemist, but I haven’t finished the alchemy system yet, now there’s a vested interest to get that particular system done sooner rather than later.

Q4: Are you typically the Game Master for these playtests, or do others GM?

AZ: Generally speaking, I am what the tabletop community refers to as a “Forever GM”. I rarely get the chance to be a player, because if I don’t run the games, then the games don’t happen. Luckily, as of recently, I’ve started helping some new people learn the ropes of GM’ing a tabletop and they’re enjoying it. Which is great news both for my sanity - because being on the player’s side is a very different experience - and it’s great news for developing my games, because I refuse to release any game I’ve developed until I’ve had the chance to play it myself at least once.

Q5: Are there any “rules” for your playtesting party?

AZ: At my table, there aren’t really any specific rules. I keep a “Playstyles Tracker” of particular builds or mechanics I want tested, and ask my players to pick from that tracker whenever possible. Beyond that, it’s a pretty free-form and open table and discussion. I want my players to test certain things, but with too many rules to how to “Playtest” the game, it ends up deviating from what a real campaign would be like - and it can stop players from feeling open enough to provide feedback and suggestions.

Q6: How often do you playtest various tabletops and when do they move onto the “next step”?

AZ: As a rule of thumb, we playtest our tabletops once or twice a week. Playing through a full campaign of multiple play-testing sessions, with each session lasting anywhere between 4-7 hours each. The “next step” varies wildly between every tabletop system - but at the end of the day, I playtest my tabletop systems until I feel they’re ready. I try to avoid finding myself in an endless loop of adding more and more content, and try to keep the development focused for what I want in that particular game/book. There are different milestones in game development, with the foundations in place, all of the intended mechanics in place, and then testing to refine those mechanics. And each tabletop system hits those steps at different speeds based on both my personal interest in the game, and how often we’re able to playtest it between all of the games I’m developing at once.