Monday 16 December 2013

December London Meetup 2013 Debrief



Despite the rainy weather and lure of Christmas shopping, a dedicated group of playtesters came to enjoy a lovely afternoon playing games and getting feedback and comments on their designs at the December London meetup for Playtest UK. Prototypes included crazy party games, quick dice games and strategic wizard duels and many more. We welcomed 3 new attendees this month: Alex, Evie and Ivan.

Here are some photos of the event:



Sunday 1 December 2013

London Meetup Sunday 15th December


The December London Meetup will be on Sunday 15th December from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.


The last London Playtest meetup of the year and a chance for some Xmas drinks before the holiday season.

If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Everyone is welcome.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and your game will be added to the provisional list. 

We have pre-registration to make the sessions run more smoothly. Designers are encouraged to pre-register their games to be playtested before the meetup by leaving a message on the meetup page or contacting Rob Harris (Organiser).

You are still welcome to bring along other designs on the day, but time slots will first of all be allocated to pre-registered games.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/140933502

We also have a guild at Boardgamegeek.com: www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398

Some of the games to be playtested (TBC):


Newsy - current affairs party game, 30 mins, 3 teams of 2 players (Alunga)
Aliens Invade the Earth - flying saucers attacking our planet, 60 mins, 1-6 players (Phil Richardson)
Dragon Races - light-to-medium-weight dragon racing game, 60-90 mins, 3-6 players (Chris Keating)
Chocolate Factory - confectionery-themed economic strategy game, 90 mins, 4 players (Lawrence Davies)
Sage - abstract strategy game, 45 mins, 2 players (Selim Talat)
Hole of DOOM - spinning tops, 15 mins, 4 players (Samuel Murray-Birnbaum)
Blockbusters - dexterity, flicking/ blocking game, 10 mins, 2 players (Samuel Murray-Birnbaum)
Thirteen - abstract area control game, 20 mins, 4 players (Gavin Birnbaum)
Dice Prototype - quick dice rolling duel, 5-10 mins, 2 players (Rob Harris)
Can You Do This? - a party game, 15 mins, 2-4-6 players, blind playtest (Behrooz Shahriari)
New Prototype - Re-design competition entry, 60 mins, ? players (Behrooz Shahriari)
Monumentum - a card and board game where players control powerful summoners, 60 mins, 2 players x 2? (Harvey Patchett-Joyce)
3D Reversi - abstract strategy game, small 15-20 mins / large 35-50 mins, 2 players (Gokce Balkan)
Doomsday - evil genius card game, 30 mins, 2-4 players (Chris Leigh)

Friday 15 November 2013

Playtest UK @ Dragonmeet 2013



This will be our fourth successive year at Dragonmeet 2013 to run the Playtest Zone. 
Check out the www.dragonmeet.co.uk website for more details and to buy tickets, which can also be purchased on the day. We will be playtesting all day on Saturday.
This will be a public playtesting event for card and board games prototypes. If you are a games designer this is a perfect opportunity to play your game with the great gaming public and receive more feedback in a day than you usually would in a month.
f you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play. If you sit down to play a game and leave some feedback then you will entered into a prize draw to win a £20 gift voucher from www.boardgameguru.co.uk 
If you would like to bring along a game design, or just help out on the stand, please contact Rob Harris or leave a message below.
More details to follow.........
You can join the Playtest @ Dragonmeet event here: www.meetup.com/Playtest 

Sunday 1 September 2013

London Meetup Sunday 15th September


The September London Meetup will be on Sunday 15th September from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.


September signals the end of Summer. Its time to get back to staying indoors working feverishly on the latest prototype as the rain lashes down outside. For designers seeking a publisher, there is just over a month to perfect your game before meetings at Essen Spiel in October.

If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Everyone is welcome.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and your game will be added to the provisional list. 

We have pre-registration to make the sessions run more smoothly. Designers are encouraged to pre-register their games to be playtested before the meetup by leaving a message on the meetup page or contacting Rob Harris (Organiser).

You are still welcome to bring along other designs on the day, but time slots will first of all be allocated to pre-registered games.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/115482832/

We also have a guild at Boardgamegeek.com: www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398

Some of the games to be playtested (TBC):


Zambezi - a light, fun family game, (15mins x players), 2-5-8 players (Peter Burley)
Crowdfunder - light economic game about kickstarter, 60ish mins, 2-4 players (Behrooz Shahriari)
Not Fluxx - random chaotic game, 10-15 mins, 2-6 players (Behrooz Shahriari)
Barbarians! Run! - Roman-bashing wargame, 90 mins, 2+ players (Dave Turner)
King's Favour - social card game, 45mins, 4-10 players (Paul Pressley)
Civili-'zee'-ation - cooperative game, 90 mins, 4 players (Ben Neumann)
Fishy Business - light euro game about sea fishing, 60 mins, 2-4players (Mo Holkar)
Eternal Gateway - fantasy/ medieval game, 60-120 mins, 2-4 players (Andy Yiangou)
Trinity - Roman-themed card & dice game, 60-75 minutes, 2 -5 players (Brett Gilbert & Matt Dunstan)
Artisans - "cube machine" game, 60-75 minutes, 2-4 players (Brett Gilbert & Matt Dunstan)
Angkor Thom - city building game, 45-60 minutes, 2-5 players (Brett Gilbert)
Divinare Dice - super-quick dice game inspired by Divinare, 20-30 minutes, 2-4 players (Brett Gilbert)
Corportocracy - cyberpunk world domination game, 90 mins, ? players, (Jonathan Casterton)
Five Wickets Down - deckbuilding cricket game, 60 mins, 2-4 players (Chris Taylor-Davies)
Adapt or Die: Cro-Magnons coming - pre-historic survival game, 90 mins, 3-4 players (Dave Mortimer)
The Joust - bluffing card game, 30 mins, 2 players (Dave Mortimer)
Newsy (WT) - card game about the news, 30 mins, 2-3 players (Alunga)

Monday 5 August 2013

London Meetup Sunday 18th August


The August London Meetup will be on Sunday 18th August from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.


Following hot on the heels of the Nine Worlds Convention public playtesting will be the August meetup. All the holiday hours spent idling by the pool can now be used for game design. Don't leave home without your ideas notebook.

If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Everyone is welcome.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and your game will be added to the provisional list. 

We have pre-registration to make the sessions run more smoothly. Designers are encouraged to pre-register their games to be playtested before the meetup by leaving a message on the meetup page or contacting Rob Harris (Organiser).

You are still welcome to bring along other designs on the day, but time slots will first of all be allocated to pre-registered games.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/115482732/

We also have a guild at Boardgamegeek.com: www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398

Some of the games to be playtested (TBC):

Chocolate Trader - strategy game about chocolate factories, 30-40 mins, 3-4 players (Lawrence Davies)
Send in the Clowns - 2 x card game rules for kids/ adults, 2 x 30 mins, 2-4-6 players (Andrew Bond)
Deckchairs - tile-laying race game, 60 mins, 2-4 players (Andrew Bond)
Hold the Front Page - newspaper industry game, 90-120 mins, 2--4-6 players (Andrew Bond)
Eternal Gateway - fantasy/ medieval game, 45-60 mins, 4 players (Andy Yiangou)
Robofactory - economic game about robot-building, 90 mins, 2-6 players (Carlos Moreno Serrano)
Guilds of Florence - worker programming game, 90 mins, 2-6 players (Carlos Moreno Serrano)
Caterwaul, battling tribes of cats, 30 mins, 2 players (Mo Holkar)
Mystery Prototype - 90 mins, Details to follow (Ben Neumann)
Cricket Prototype - new version of deck-building sports game, 60 mins, 2-4 players (Chris Taylor-Davies)
Cursed Temple - sneaky queue manipulation game, 30 mins, 3-4 players (Andrew Rowse)
Dexikon - deck-building spelling game, 50 mins, 3-4 players (Andrew Rowse)

Thursday 1 August 2013

Playtest UK @ Nine Worlds Convention 2013


Calling all budding games designers and playtesters!

Playtest UK will be running a playtesting event 
at the Nine Worlds Convention 2013 August 10th-11th.

This is a new convention, which was funded through Kickstarter and has a very varied programme from gaming to Harry Potter academia. The playtesting will take place in the Connaught Room at the Radisson Blu Edwardia Hotel, Heathrow from 10am until 6pm each day.


The aim of the event is to bring designers and playtesters together to play games, encourage feedback and to help create better games.

If you have game prototype that you would like to put in front of players, please bring it along. There will be feedback forms provided.

Do you like to play games? Do you know what makes a good game fun? Your opinions could help to develop the prototypes and perhaps lead to a playtesting credit in a published game.

Feel free to contact me for more details at contact 'at' playtest.co.uk

Tuesday 23 July 2013

July London Meetup 2013 Debrief

A dedicated group of playtesters came to enjoy a lovely summer's afternoon playing games and getting feedback and comments on their designs at the July London meetup for Playtest UK. Prototypes included microgames, epic space miniatures battles, satirical political games, word games and many more. We welcomed 5 new attendees this month: Eran, Matt J, Matt R, Michel and Paul.
Details of the games played can be found here on a BGG geeklist: 
www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/160034/playtest-uk-london-meetup-sunday-21st-july-2013

Here are some photos of the event:



Saturday 13 July 2013

New Newcastle Playtest meetup


Building on the success of the Playtest groups in London and Cambridge, now there is a Newcastle Playtest monthly meetup that local designers and playtesters in the North-East can call their own. 

Everyone is welcome to join and bring along their own prototypes or just settle down in a friendly atmosphere and give constructive comments. 

The Newcastle Playtest meetups will be organised by Playtest member, Daniel Howard.

The venue will be the The Bridge Hotel, Castle Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1RQ.

Here is a link to the venue website: 
www.bridgehotelnewcastle.co.uk
There are more photos of the venue here: 
www.meetup.com/Playtest/photos/16039162/

If you would like to join the Newcastle Playtest meetup group follow this link: 
www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/129252252

More announcements to come soon...

Thursday 20 June 2013

New Game from Days of Wonder: 'Relic Runners'


Congratulations to Playtest UK member, Matt Dunstan on his first published design, 'Relic Runners', which is due to be released by Days of wonder later this year.

The game was playtested at the Playtest UK London meetup and went on to be shortlisted for the Europa Ludi 2012.

Links: 

Days of Wonder: www.daysofwonder.com/relic-runners/en/
Game Entry on BoardGameGeek:
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/144270/relic-runners

Tuesday 18 June 2013

London Meetup Sunday 21st July


The July London Meetup will be on Sunday 21st July from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.


Playtest is getting bigger for the Summer! This will be the last London meetup before the Nine Worlds public playtesting event at the start of August.

If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Everyone is welcome.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and your game will be added to the provisional list. 

We have pre-registration to make the sessions run more smoothly. Designers are encouraged to pre-register their games to be playtested before the meetup by leaving a message on the meetup page or contacting Rob Harris (Organiser).

You are still welcome to bring along other designs on the day, but time slots will first of all be allocated to pre-registered games.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/115482652/

We also have a guild at Boardgamegeek.com: www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398

Some of the games to be playtested (TBC):

Hegemony - medium weight wargame, 60+ mins, 4 players (Robert Bracey)
Dexikon - wordplay card game, 60 mins, 4 players (Andrew Rowse)
Temple of Doom - card based escape game 45 mins, 4 players (Andrew Rowse)
Eternal Gateway - fantasy/medieval game, 120-180 mins, 2-6 players (Andy Yiangou)
Codex of the Gods - abstract game, 20 mins, 2-3 players (David Mortimer)
Adapt or Die Cro-Magnons - survival game, 90-120 mins, 3-4-5 players (David Mortimer)
Viroids - Details to be confirmed (Matt Rodda)
Dark Continent - sandbox exploration game, details to be confirmed (Chris Leigh)
Starfighter - space combat game, 70-90 mins, 3-6 players (Lawrence Davies)
SQUASH! - tactical sports game, 10-15 mins, 2 players (Lawrence Davies)
Blackjack Attack/Trivia - card game prototype, more details to come, 3,6,8 players (Helen Walton)
Caterwaul - card game about rival cats, 20-45 mins, 2 players (Mo Holkar)
Privatise? - satirical political game, 60 mins, 3-5 players (Chris Swann)

Monday 17 June 2013

June London Meetup 2013 Debrief

40 members celebrated Father's Day by attending the June London meetup for Playtest UK. 27 prototypes were playtested across 4 sessions, with games ranging from family dice game, 'Sheepie Sleepy' to political game design, 'Imperialism in Space'. We welcomed 17 new attendees this month: Andy Y, Coraline, Ed, Fabian, Frank, Gary, Helen, Jackie, Jazz, Jenny, Marianna, Nathan, Pete, Richard B, Richard, Robert, Steve K.
Details of the games played can be found here on a BGG geeklist: 
www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/158511/playtest-uk-london-meetup-sunday-16th-june-2013

Here are some photos of the event:


 

 

 

 

 


Monday 10 June 2013

Article in the UKGE2013 Programme



At the start of the year, Richard from the UK Games Expo asked me to write something for the event's programme. My thoughts on which subject to cover changed from the history of games to people who had influenced my own designs, but in the end I decided to create a Games Design Checklist for novice designers and others who are interested.

There was a much larger attendance at the event than the organisers expected and they actually ran out of programmes on the first day of the show. Subsequently, they decided to post the text as a pdf file for people that missed out and this gives me the opportunity to post it here.

Here is the link: www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/UKGE2013Programme.pdf

My article is on page 15, with Playtest UK also mentioned elsewhere in the Redesign Competition and the Guests page.

Friday 31 May 2013

'Divinare' on the SDJ recommended list


Congratulations are in order for Playtest UK member, Brett Gilbert, whose game, 'Divinare' has been included on the recommended list for the SDJ award

The German Game of the Year prize (it translates as Spiel Des Jahres) is the most prestigious among designers, as it is widely respected across Europe and the US.

'Divinare' was published in 2012 by Asmodee. It is a family game involving bluffing and deduction. The prototype for the game also won the Granollers design competition in 2012 and was playtested at the Playtest UK club.

Here are some links to the game:


Thursday 30 May 2013

London Meetup Sunday 16th June



The June Meetup will be on Sunday 16th June from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.


Following on from the success of the Playtest @ UK Games Expo 2013, we will be returning to the usual meetup schedule. 

If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. Everyone is welcome.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and we will add your game to the list. 

We have pre-registration to make the sessions run more smoothly. Designers are encouraged to pre-register their games to be playtested before the meetup by leaving a message on the meetup page or contacting Rob Harris (Organiser).

You are still welcome to bring along other designs on the day, but time slots will first of all be allocated to pre-registered games.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/115482492/

We also have a guild at Boardgamegeek.com: www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398

Some of the games to be playtested (TBC):


Master of Elements - light-medium auction game, 30 mins, 3-5 players (Robert)
Unfair - new card game prototype, variable duration, 2-10 players (Frank Molbech)
Alchemists of Venice - new board game prototype, 2-4 players (Peter Burley)
Eternal Gateway - fantasy/medieval game, 120-180 mins, 2-6 players (Andy Yiangou)
Untitled - Kickstarter economic/ social game, 40-70 mins, 4-6 players (Behrooz Shahriari)
Shape Up! - card placement microgame, 10 mins, 2-3 players (Mo Holkar)
Les cartes de Louis - collection of card games, 30 mins, 3 players (Coraline Chane)
Warbot Peacetime Jobsearch - game about finding work for unemployed death machines, 60 mins, 3-4 players (Andrew Rowse)
Cursed Temple - asymmentric version of Zombie at your Heels, 60 mins, 3-4 players (Andrew Rowse)
Fishy Business - light eurogame, 45 mins, 2-4 players (Mo Holkar)
Soul Binder - trading card game, 45 mins, 2 players (Daniel Forster)
Terror at Graveport - cooperative game, 90 mins, 5 players (Andy Oakey)
Brent Crude - oil industry game, 90-150 mins, 2-5 players (Andrew Bond)
Send in the Clowns - colour matching card game, 30-60 mins 2-4 players (Andrew Bond)
Trinity - dice rolling, card drafting game, 45-75 minutes, 2-5 players (Matt Dunstan & Brett Gilbert)
Artisans - dice allocation, worker placement game, 60-90 minutes, 2-5 players (Matt Dunstan & Brett Gilbert)
Untitled - card drafting, route building and action selection game, 45-60 minutes, 2-4 players (Matt Dunstan)
The Empire Engine - bluffing microgame, 20 minutes, 2-4 players (Matt Dunstan & Chris Marling)
Sheepie Sleepy - dice game based on counting sheep, 30 mins, 2-4 players (Jazz Aujila - ASAE)
Freight Chain - euro-gamer style card game based on the Industrial Revolution, 45 mins, 2-4 players (Jazz Aujila - ASAE)
ConSTARlations - light card/board game with little stars in space, 20-30mins, 2-4 players (Dave Cousins)
Hitched - board game with rival gangs of Orcs attack an Elven wedding, 30-40mins, 2 players (Dave Cousins)
Angkor Thom - city building/ light strategy, 60 mins, 2-5players (Brett Gilbert)
Scene Life - Details to be confirmed, 180 mins, 4-5 players (Kim Berg)
Imperialism in Space - 90-120 mins, 3,4 or 6 players (James Moulding & Kateryna Onyiliogwu)
Fiefdoms - Details to be confirmed, 45 mins, 2-4 players (Adam Taylor)
Command & Colours - Skirmish - short wargame, 30-60, 2 players (Adam Taylor)
Screenplay - movie-writing story-game, 120 mins, 3-5 players (Edward Croft)

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Playtest @ UKGE 2013 Competition Winners


To add to the excitement of the UK Games Expo 2013, Playtest UK ran three competitions.

First of all there was the annual prize draw for all playtesters who sat down to play a prototype at the Playtest Zone. On each feedback form there is a little entry slip that goes into the lucky dip.

The winner was Scot Symonds, who receives a £30 gift voucher to spend at www.boardgameguru.co.uk.

Thank you to Paul at BoardGame Guru for the support:


Playtest UK was also running the QR Code Treasure Hunt on both days of the Expo. Players had to find ten treasure maps scattered around the venue, using their mobile phones to decode clues hidden in QR codes. There were great prizes on offer.

Saturday's Treasure Hunt prize went to Maria Jones.

The prize included Junkyard Races by Gen 42 Games, Fzzzt! by Surprised Stare, and the 'Fortune's Fool' Roleplaying Game published by Chronicle City.

Sunday's Treasure Hunt prize went to Alex Green

The bag of swag included Anyways by Ragnar Brothers, On the Cards by Surprised Stare, Mijnlieff by Hopwood Games and 'The Wyld Hunt' signed novel by Gunnar Roxen.

Congratulations to the winners! Look forward to seeing you at the UK Games Expo 2014!

Thank you to the kind sponsors of the QR Code Treasure Hunt: