Tuesday 23 October 2012

October Playtest Debrief

This was the first Playtest meetup at our new venue, The Jugged Hare pub, Victoria. Many thanks to Magda and her team for their welcoming hospitality and especially the ESB beer on draught.

Despite some of our regular members heading over to Germany for the annual Essen Spiel Expo, we had 14 playtesters arrive to try out each other's games.

There was a great mix of prototypes, ranging from 'Starfighter', a miniatures-based space combat system to an immersive drag-racing sim for two players sitting side-by-side in chairs, which will be incorporated into a freeform game later this year. Other games included a whist variant with a clever twist and a family/children's game with a World travel theme and an inventive moving board. There was a light eurogame about fishing and a 6-player paranoia-filled adventure game set in the Arctic, followed by an alien combat game, an as-yet-untitled prototype and a fantasy-themed trading game. All in all the assembled group played their way through 12 different game designs and everyone who brought a prototype got it played at least once. The feedback for my own game designs was very constructive. There was an important breakthrough for the gameplay in one of my prototypes in particular, which had left me stumped for months.

At the meetup, there was a good discussion with several members about sourcing game components and game design competitions. Some of this information will soon be posted to the website as a resources page, so that members can pool their knowledge.

Amid all the excitement I forgot to take any photos this month or put out any Playtest signs, although that might have been because of the excellent ESB!

Friday 5 October 2012

London Playtest - New Venue


The London Playtest group has a new venue at the Jugged Hare pub, just around the corner from the Morpeth Arms and close to the Pimlico and Victoria tube stations. We will be using the gallery space on the first floor, which has plenty of table space. The pub has been awarded Cask Marque approval and is featured in the Good Food and Good Beer guide.

Link to map here.
Link to Pub website here.
Link to Pub menu here.


The first meetup at the new venue will be on Sunday 21st October.

There are more photos here: www.meetup.com/Playtest/photos/11061542/

Wednesday 3 October 2012

New Cambridge Playtest meetup

We couldn't keep a good thing to just one city, so after taking the UK Games Expo by storm in the summer, we will now be offering weekly Playtest meetups in Cambridge, as well as the usual monthly meetup in London.

Our aim is to build a community of playtesters and offer as many opportunities to play as possible. The Cambridge Playtest meetups will be organised by Playtest members, Brett and Matt.


The venue will be the First & Last18 Melbourne Place, CB1 1EQ.

Here is a link to the venue website: www.thefirstandlastcambridge.co.uk/

There are more photos of the venue here: www.meetup.com/Playtest/photos/11068482/

If you would like to join the Cambridge Playtest meetup group follow this link: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/84585372/