Playtests are a crucial step in game development. They are perhaps the most vital. The purpose of a playtest is simple – it is to find design and play-ability flaws prior to the game being released. Playtesting isn’t necessarily going to reveal every challenge, though with enough foresight and thoroughness, playtests will uncover most issues before the game is released.
Ages of Conflict began as a home creation to allow us to play battles the way we wanted to play them. We didn’t have plans to release the rules and so we weren’t concerned with playtesting other than fixing problems as we encountered them.
Our decision to publish necessarily meant we had to adhere to a stricter playtesting regiment. After a bit of research and deliberation we decided on the test strategy below. Each step of our playtest procedure isn’t concluded until all identified issues and concerns are resolved.
Step #1 – Rules Review
Our first step is a thorough review of the existing rules. This is to ensure everyone is up-to-date on the current version. We don’t perform any playtests at this phase; rather we essentially use thought experiments as we walk through the rules.
Step #2 – Focused Testing
Next, we create a detailed checklist of all rules as well as situations we want to ensure are tested. This is a crucial step as testing within the confines of a normal game doesn’t necessarily give us the opportunity to test unusual or uncommon situations.
Below is a small example of our checklist for Ages of Conflict. Each time we test an item we check it off so that we know how many times we’ve deliberately tested. We don’t plan how many times we test a line item; we test until we are happy.
It’s important that we don’t run multiple consecutive tests at the same time and then call testing for that item complete. We test once or twice and then return to the item another day for additional testing.
Step #3 – Internal Testing
Our third step is internal playtesting. In this step we play a mix of normal games and games in which we deliberately include certain equipment, unit types, special abilities, etc. So, in some ways we’re still performing a bit of focused playtesting, though always within the confines of a normal game.
We always have at least one person observing and taking notes during the game.
The goal, when this step of testing is complete, is to have performed sufficient testing over the past three phases to have rules that are completely vetted and ready for external testing.
Step #4 – External Testing
This is the first step in which outside players are asked to test the game. This is an essential element of testing as we’re now asking players who have never seen the game to test. This is like Step #3 as we play a mix of normal games and games that are controlled. Also, as with Step #3, we have at least one person observing to take notes.
It is important to note that we aren’t necessarily asking the testers to first read the rules as the rules are still in beta form. Rather we are playing alongside the testers helping them learn the rules as the game progresses.
Testers are also provided with a questionnaire to better determine what aspects of the game they enjoyed, didn’t like, felt could be improved, were confusing, etc.
Step #5 – Cold Testing
Our last step involves placing the rules in the hands of players that have never played nor seen the game. At this point the rulebook isn’t necessarily finalized, though the rules should be clear enough so that an individual with no experience with the game, or perhaps any gaming experience at all, can read and understand the intent of the game and the rules as the testers will be asked to read the rules and play the game with no guidance from the designers.
As with Step #4, testers are provided with a questionnaire to help us understand their thoughts on the game.