Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 8, 2023

A long fight should feel like a protracted fight and the time limit should reflect that. A short fight should feel like a sudden burst with a lot of pressure to finish it quickly. After we set our estimate, we playtest it to see how it feels.

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Fighting Dev Games 52

Brand Game Development

MARCH 9, 2020

There is some bitter truth behind the joking that Monopoly makes families fight. Watch your playtesters’ reactions. With so many issues, it seems unlikely that Monopoly was thoroughly playtested. At the very least, it wasn’t playtested to modern standards. That’s not how family games are meant to go!

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Playtesting Games 130

Brand Game Development

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Playtest a Ton. Think long and hard about how much you want the game to fight back against the players. The post How to Make Board Game Rules appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev. With all this said, how does one create rules that fulfill the twin purposes of balancing the game and communicating clearly?

Balance 130

Balance Games Communications Mechanics 130

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

If you hate the game you’re playtesting, do something different. Tasty Humans is about monsters fighting humans instead of the other way around, which gets a sick laugh out of everybody who sees the game. Don’t just playtest it and refine the mechanics. This seems obvious, but never lose sight of it.

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Tile Games 130

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Yet, for indie dev Almar, it offered an escape from the corporate rat race he felt trapped in. I definitely recommend getting feedback from external playtesters at each step “On each one of those steps I end up having one or more concrete ‘products’. The toll on your mental health can be quite high for solo devs.

Dev 158

Dev Playtesting Art Games 158

Rindoku

OCTOBER 7, 2016

After months of toiling in a secluded attic, the last weeks of which were particularly grueling, we finally took Second Hand to its first public showings: first to Dev-Play in Bucharest and shortly thereafter to Clujotronic in our very own Cluj. It was scary, thrilling, amazing and… we won the Dev-Play Indie Pitch! Color me excited!

Point and Click 52

Point and Click Dev Demo Playtesting 52

Brand Game Development

JUNE 11, 2018

You fight to take the throne either through military conquest or economic prowess. There might be a room for playtesting prototypes at some cons, but they are often small and not very well attended. The post How to Get Started with Board Game Conventions as a Board Game Creator, Part 1 appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.

Prototyping 130

Prototyping Games Localization Demo 130