Has anyone else had any experience playtesting a boardgame? Right now, without going into too much detail, I'm playtesting a "legacy" game from a somewhat well-known designer. I'm taking notes on the game, what I like and dislike, my overall impressions, etc., but it's a challenge to separate what I think of the game from whether the game is "good" or not, or whether another person, or a different type of gamer, would like it.
I think I'm doing a pretty good job from keeping my own opinions from coloring my overall impressions, but was wondering if anyone else has any tips or whatever for doing this.
Has anyone else had any experience playtesting a boardgame? Right now, without going into too much detail, I'm playtesting a "legacy" game from a somewhat well-known designer. I'm taking notes on the game, what I like and dislike, my overall impressions, etc., but it's a challenge to separate what I think of the game from whether the game is "good" or not, or whether another person, or a different type of gamer, would like it.
I think I'm doing a pretty good job from keeping my own opinions from coloring my overall impressions, but was wondering if anyone else has any tips or whatever for doing this.
Usually when you playtest, someone is asking you questions, and you can stick to answering them rather than saying everything that comes to mind. If they don't ask you, and just want a report, be as thorough as you please.
Kate and I played Scythe with our friends Sean and Michelle. it was quite fun. He had the kickstarter version with metal coins, heavy metal and resin resources tokens, big board, and special containers.
Scott is correct. Take their specific direction. If there is no direction, they're not doing a job managing their playtest, so give them whatever you want. I can tell you from experience, designers of that sort of game are often looking for detailed turn-by-turn logs, and appreciate any notes from players about what their considerations where in making decisions at various points in time. What were you weighing in your mind when you made that move on turn 7?
I usually give much higher level feedback. I focus on structural problems, degenerates, unresolvable or confusing situations, etc...
If you don't ask me for more, I never give the turn by turn. I give:
1. Is there a game here? 2. Is it possible for the game to be good? 3. Is the game good now? 4. Who is it good for? 5. Who is it NEVER going to be for? 6. Overall depth 7. Overall elegance 8. Specific things that are broken 9. What I perceive to be the true core mechanic of the game
Kate and I played Scythe with our friends Sean and Michelle. it was quite fun. He had the kickstarter version with metal coins, heavy metal and resin resources tokens, big board, and special containers.
The fancy production of this game seems to be its only appeal. I greatly underestimated how many people enjoy board games for the physical objects and materialism rather than the games themselves, because this thing is popular as fuck.
I said it was fun. It's a production game where you try to maximize your faction's output, and it has changeable layouts to give the game more replay value. I had a good time. It's not as deep and painful as Eclipse, has a focus on maximization of output for each turn, minimal randomness, and good direct player conflicts. A good time IMHO.
I happen to like the additional details in the premium box because I appreciate the thought, creativity, and feel of the pieces. I'm not going to refuse to play the base set though.
I think part of the problem is that when I first played it at PAX Prime we treated it like some Eurogame. Apparently although it has plenty of Euro mechanics, it's actually more like a Diplomacy game, but you have to do good at the Euro part to exert your power. It was not sold to me that way originally. Even so. I'd rather just play Eclipse.
I usually give much higher level feedback. I focus on structural problems, degenerates, unresolvable or confusing situations, etc...
If you don't ask me for more, I never give the turn by turn. I give:
1. Is there a game here? 2. Is it possible for the game to be good? 3. Is the game good now? 4. Who is it good for? 5. Who is it NEVER going to be for? 6. Overall depth 7. Overall elegance 8. Specific things that are broken 9. What I perceive to be the true core mechanic of the game
I'd normally agree, but looking at Legacy games is a different beast, and they tend to want that crazy fine detail.
I wish I came away from my one play of Scythe with a solid opinion on it. I fucked up royally and went all in on being first to get six stars, not be the person who had the most victory points at that point. Huge oversight and it probably colored my opinion on the game (I walked away wanting to play Eclipse).
It also seemed weird to me how the map was pre-designed for the expansion. I would like to see how this goes at max player count with the expansion. I simply don't trust Steigmaier enough (I did not like Viticulture) to design a giant game that also scales really well. A game like this has got to have a sweet spot. Having an expansion that was clearly part of the core game, but got delayed/lopped off for separate release, leaves me with a raised eyebrow.
Yeah I bought some Star Wars Destiny on Amazon wanna fight about it?
Nice! What were you able to get from Amazon? The game's been really hard to find nowadays, due to stock shortages.
So the weird thing for Amazon is on launch day it was just being resold by other companies for too much. I must have missed the exact date this week but they recently put it up as being sold by Amazon. I don't know if they sold out of their first batch or if it's sort of in a "preorder" phase but it said it would be available by the 14th.
But I was able to put in for a Kylo Ren and Rae starter set. And I grabbed 3 boosters as that was the limit for one transaction. I wanted to see how that goes before investing more. Hopefully there aren't any complications with the shortages.
Honestly, the Kylo and Rey starter sets are a great way to start the game and get a flavor for how the game feels. Have you been able to try the game out yourself?
I played a lot of 2p games with Anthony during the week, and even made some progress toward playing all my games this year (even though I'd given up on it). I've also taken a good look at the shelves and done some late spring cleaning...
Collection Played in 2016: 97%. 6 games to go. Trade Pile: Arkwright, Power Grid, Terra Mystica, 1775: Rebellion, String Savanna. Games Added: Ponzi Scheme
Kanagawa(new to me) - Between this and Oceanos, I declare Winter 2016 the season of Just Another Unremarkable Set-Collection Game. Fine, but unremarkable.
Arkwright(new to me) - Too deliberate for me. I like economic games to be fast and violent, and Arkwright proceeds at a comparitively glacial pace. It is also subject to "idle" downtime caused by slow players to a degree that even 18XX is not... we were on track for a four-hour game. In the time we played 3/5 rounds, we could have finished an entire game of 1846 at the same table.
Chicago Express(new to me) - Sean brought this out after we played North American Railways, noting their similarity. He isn't wrong, though Chicago Express gives you more rope to hang yourself with. If you're a new player you will probably lose on the first turn, which isn't much of a problem when the game is so short.
Ponzi Scheme(new to me) - I'm not sure if this has staying power, but I wasn't disappointed in the first play. It's difficult to price things correctly, and maneuvering around the inevitable financial collapse is a fun challenge.
SeaFall(new to me) - This has gotten some very rough reviews, but after the tutorial game I'm inclined to say I like it. There's an older euro sensibility to it (Serenissima, perhaps), sailing around, making incremental progress trading and raiding, punctuated by the unusual storytelling elements.
Brass - I like Brass more every time I play it (which only seems to happen once a year, never with the same group). The tension present in your own hand of cards, playing around the other players, and managing the transition from canals to railroads are all enjoyable and give the game a very satisfying arc.
Nautilion(new to me) - The first of many 2p games Anthony and I played during the week. I have a general preference for cards over dice, but I count this as my favorite Oniverse game. Reasonable 2p variant, too.
Legendary Encounters: Alien - Alien seems uniquely suited to Legendary's constant flow of nasty cards, in comparison to Marvel and Predator. I also like Legendary more as a cooperative system (the occasional 'nothing' turns hurt less that way).
Innovation - I had a real shot at scoring out of the 10s, until Anthony activated Suburbia. A close game, even though 104-70 doesn't LOOK close...
Mottainai - In terms of play count in 2016, Mottainai is only trailing Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy (perennial favorites), and Codenames (generally played 3-4 times in a row). It's definitely winning among games I played for the FIRST time in 2016.
Collection Played in 2016: 97%. 6 games to go. Trade Pile: Arkwright, Power Grid, Terra Mystica, 1775: Rebellion, String Savanna. Games Added: Ponzi Scheme
Arkwright(new to me) - Too deliberate for me. I like economic games to be fast and violent, and Arkwright proceeds at a comparitively glacial pace. It is also subject to "idle" downtime caused by slow players to a degree that even 18XX is not... we were on track for a four-hour game. In the time we played 3/5 rounds, we could have finished an entire game of 1846 at the same table.
Ponzi Scheme(new to me) - I'm not sure if this has staying power, but I wasn't disappointed in the first play. It's difficult to price things correctly, and maneuvering around the inevitable financial collapse is a fun challenge.
SeaFall(new to me) - This has gotten some very rough reviews, but after the tutorial game I'm inclined to say I like it. There's an older euro sensibility to it (Serenissima, perhaps), sailing around, making incremental progress trading and raiding, punctuated by the unusual storytelling elements.
Brass - I like Brass more every time I play it (which only seems to happen once a year, never with the same group). The tension present in your own hand of cards, playing around the other players, and managing the transition from canals to railroads are all enjoyable and give the game a very satisfying arc.
I kinda dug Arkwright even though I wasn't crazy about the graphic design, but it definitely has a sharp learning curve. Probably the neatest thing about the game was there were choices to be made between growing your revenue (and the subsequent expenses) or reducing your expenses. Even though it's not quite the same game I did like New Bedford better.
'Nobody "wins" a Cthulhu game.' LOL.
Ponzi Scheme, definitely want to give this another go.
Seafall, glad you like it so far. I'm glad I was at least able to name one of the Islands in the Prologue. Can't wait to see where the rest of it goes.
Brass, I feel like the game needs a flowchart. I was a little frustrated by the random card system at little, would give this another go.
Comments
Has anyone else had any experience playtesting a boardgame? Right now, without going into too much detail, I'm playtesting a "legacy" game from a somewhat well-known designer. I'm taking notes on the game, what I like and dislike, my overall impressions, etc., but it's a challenge to separate what I think of the game from whether the game is "good" or not, or whether another person, or a different type of gamer, would like it.
I think I'm doing a pretty good job from keeping my own opinions from coloring my overall impressions, but was wondering if anyone else has any tips or whatever for doing this.
If you don't ask me for more, I never give the turn by turn. I give:
1. Is there a game here?
2. Is it possible for the game to be good?
3. Is the game good now?
4. Who is it good for?
5. Who is it NEVER going to be for?
6. Overall depth
7. Overall elegance
8. Specific things that are broken
9. What I perceive to be the true core mechanic of the game
I happen to like the additional details in the premium box because I appreciate the thought, creativity, and feel of the pieces. I'm not going to refuse to play the base set though.
It also seemed weird to me how the map was pre-designed for the expansion. I would like to see how this goes at max player count with the expansion. I simply don't trust Steigmaier enough (I did not like Viticulture) to design a giant game that also scales really well. A game like this has got to have a sweet spot. Having an expansion that was clearly part of the core game, but got delayed/lopped off for separate release, leaves me with a raised eyebrow.
I feel like Scythe plays well at 1, 3, 4, and 5. Never played with just two. With Viticulture you really don't want to go beyond 4!
But I was able to put in for a Kylo Ren and Rae starter set. And I grabbed 3 boosters as that was the limit for one transaction. I wanted to see how that goes before investing more. Hopefully there aren't any complications with the shortages.
I need like a week off from work, too bad I won't have that until end of January and am working extra hours.
If only the work network would go down. That would be cool.
Collection Played in 2016: 97%. 6 games to go. Trade Pile: Arkwright, Power Grid, Terra Mystica, 1775: Rebellion, String Savanna. Games Added: Ponzi Scheme
Kanagawa (new to me) - Between this and Oceanos, I declare Winter 2016 the season of Just Another Unremarkable Set-Collection Game. Fine, but unremarkable.
Arkwright (new to me) - Too deliberate for me. I like economic games to be fast and violent, and Arkwright proceeds at a comparitively glacial pace. It is also subject to "idle" downtime caused by slow players to a degree that even 18XX is not... we were on track for a four-hour game. In the time we played 3/5 rounds, we could have finished an entire game of 1846 at the same table.
Chicago Express (new to me) - Sean brought this out after we played North American Railways, noting their similarity. He isn't wrong, though Chicago Express gives you more rope to hang yourself with. If you're a new player you will probably lose on the first turn, which isn't much of a problem when the game is so short.
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu (new to me) - Yet Another Pandemic Variant. I happen to like these, though.
Ponzi Scheme (new to me) - I'm not sure if this has staying power, but I wasn't disappointed in the first play. It's difficult to price things correctly, and maneuvering around the inevitable financial collapse is a fun challenge.
SeaFall (new to me) - This has gotten some very rough reviews, but after the tutorial game I'm inclined to say I like it. There's an older euro sensibility to it (Serenissima, perhaps), sailing around, making incremental progress trading and raiding, punctuated by the unusual storytelling elements.
Brass - I like Brass more every time I play it (which only seems to happen once a year, never with the same group). The tension present in your own hand of cards, playing around the other players, and managing the transition from canals to railroads are all enjoyable and give the game a very satisfying arc.
Nautilion (new to me) - The first of many 2p games Anthony and I played during the week. I have a general preference for cards over dice, but I count this as my favorite Oniverse game. Reasonable 2p variant, too.
Legendary Encounters: Alien - Alien seems uniquely suited to Legendary's constant flow of nasty cards, in comparison to Marvel and Predator. I also like Legendary more as a cooperative system (the occasional 'nothing' turns hurt less that way).
Innovation - I had a real shot at scoring out of the 10s, until Anthony activated Suburbia. A close game, even though 104-70 doesn't LOOK close...
Mottainai - In terms of play count in 2016, Mottainai is only trailing Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy (perennial favorites), and Codenames (generally played 3-4 times in a row). It's definitely winning among games I played for the FIRST time in 2016.
'Nobody "wins" a Cthulhu game.' LOL.
Ponzi Scheme, definitely want to give this another go.
Seafall, glad you like it so far. I'm glad I was at least able to name one of the Islands in the Prologue. Can't wait to see where the rest of it goes.
Brass, I feel like the game needs a flowchart. I was a little frustrated by the random card system at little, would give this another go.