Monday 10 November 2014

Playtest UK @ Dragonmeet 2014


Saturday 6th December 2014

Playtest UK will be returning to Dragonmeet for the 5th year to run the Playtest Zone. Check out the www.dragonmeet.co.uk website for more details.

This year the venue has changed to the ILEC Convention Centre & Ibis Hotel, near Earl's Court and West Brompton station. We will be playtesting all day on Saturday. 

This will be a public playtesting event for card games, board games, digital game 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.

There will be a prize draw for playtesters that sit down to play a prototype.

If you would like to bring along a game design to be playtested please register your game beforehand using the website contact form.

Adult Tickets can be bought from the website for about £8 each (or they are £10 on the door).
Under 16's  tickets are free with an adult.

Transport: I wouldn't advise driving as parking in this area of London is very expensive, but the venue is a short walk from West Brompton rail & tube station, which is on the District & Overground lines.

If you have any questions please add them to the comments section below and I'll try and answer them. Alternatively, feel free to contact me directly using the contact form.

Join the group at www.meetup.com/Playtest

Friday 30 May 2014

Playtest UK @ UK Games Expo 2014


Calling all budding games designers and playtesters!

Playtest UK will be running a playtesting event 
at the UK Games Expo 2014 May 31st -June 1st.

This year's event is being held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham. the Playtest zone is situated in the Monarch Suite.


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

You know that boardgame idea you've had knocking about for years that could be brilliant or just might not work? Create a prototype, bring it along and have fun figuring it out. Who knows, your idea might end up in a box on a games shop's shelf! 

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. 

We will rovide feedback forms for designers and playtesters.

There will be a prize draw for each attendee that playtests a game and for designers who bring a game prototype. The prize will be a £30 gift voucher to spend at www.boardgameguru.co.uk 



Feel free to contact me for more details via the contact tab at the top of the page.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Playtest London open day for Tabletop Day - Saturday 5th April


To coincide with the 2nd International Tabletop Day organised by Geek & Sundry, Playtest UK are running a playtesting and gaming event on Saturday 5th April at the Crown Tavern pub, 43 Clerkenwell Green, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0EG. (Link to Map).

We will be upstairs in the Apollo room from 12.00pm 'til closing time at 11pm. Please feel free to bring along any game prototypes you would like to have playtested. 

There will also be some popular gateway games available of the printed variety to encourage new gamers into our great hobby.

Just drop by on the day or check out our Meetup.com page for this event and other Playtest UK meetups.

Tuesday 21 January 2014

January London Meetup 2014 Debrief



Braving the weather and rail disruptions, the London Playtest UK group kicked off 2014 with a packed weekend playtesting session, featuring 24 diverse prototypes from 17 different game designers. These ranged from storytelling card designs to physical party games, with economic euro games and dexterity games also in the mix.

We welcomed 8 new attendees this month: Andrei. Andrew L, Ben M, David, Jim, Phil, Rick & Stuart.

Here are some photos of the event:




Friday 17 January 2014

7th Granollers Board Game Design Competition


Here is a link to the 7th Granollers Board Game Design Competition:

www.firajugarxjugar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/seventh-board-game-design-competition.html

The competition is for unpublished games and the rules can be found at the above link. The deadline for entries is the 3rd February 2014.

'Oracle Pathway' by Playtest UK member, Brett Gilbert won the overall prize at the 5th Granollers Competition.

The game went on to be published by Asmodee as 'Divinare' in 2012 and was placed on the SDJ recommendations list in 2013.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Playtest UK @ Toy Fair 2014


The London Toy Fair will be held at Olympia London from Tuesday 21st - Thursday 23rd January. Some members of Playtest UK are meeting up for a coffee and a chat at 12pm on Wednesday in the West Hall CafĂ©. Everyone is welcome to come along. 
Toy Fair isn't open to the general public, but if you have an interest or role in the games industry, it is possible to register in advance for a free ticket here: 
You can find out more details for the Toy Fair here:

You can sign up for the meetup at Toy Fair 2014 here:
http://www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/159234362/


Wednesday 1 January 2014

London Meetup Sunday 19th January


The January Meetup will be on Sunday 19th January from 1pm to 8pm at the Jugged Hare pub, Victoria.

Let's kick off 2014 in style. With the New Year, it's time to take those game designs down off the shelf and get some playtesting feedback.

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.

More details: www.meetup.com/Playtest/events/140933632/

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


Games to be playtested (TBC):
Newsy - current affairs party game, 30 mins, 3 teams of 2 players (Alunga) 
Smart Cards (working title) - 30 mins, 2-4 players (Ivan Allen) 
Distant Worlds -  space exploration, colony-building, trading and piracy game, 120-180 mins, 3-6 players (Chris Keating) 
~Heart of the Underworld~ - dungeon crawler, 90 mins, 4 players + Underworld Master (Selim Talat)
UFO Panic - flying saucers attacking our planet, 60 mins, 1-6 players (Phil Richardson)
The 12 Apostles - variant on Terry Pratchett's Unlikely Hero game, 10-15 mins, 3-5 players (Lawrence Davies)
Putt Putt Pirates - memory and matching card game, 30 mins, 4 players (Barry)
Thro' the Portal - dice game, 15-20 mins, 4 players (Gavin Birnbaum)
Slippery Slope - dice game, 15-20 mins, 4 players (Gavin Birnbaum)
Sumo - dice game, 15-20 mins, 4 players (Samuel Murray)
Hole of Doom - spinning tops,15-20 mins, 4 players (Samuel Murray) 
T'rain - hex based, track-laying, resource collection. 60-90 mins, 2-4 players (Dave Cousins)
Ewe.F.O. - game of sheep abducting aliens. 30 mins, 2-4 players (Dave Cousins)
Terrain - Tile placement game, 15-20 mins, 2-5 players (Dave Cousins)
Dolus - card game, 30 mins, 3-5 players (Jack Harrison)
Atlantis - light strategy game where players are seeking to uncover the ruins of Atlantis with their loyal submarine crew, 60-75 mins, 2-5 players (Matt Dunstan)
Pyramids - a card game where players enlist the help of the Egyptian Gods to build the best Pyramid, 30-40 mins, 2-5 players (Matt Dunstan & Brett Gilbert)
Trailblazers - a globe-trotting, light-strategy, map-based, card-driven, route-building family game! 45-60 mins, 2–5 players (Brett Gilbert)
Towers - a card game, 45-60 mins, 4 players (Andy Yiangou) 
Judtho - chess-based board game, 30-120 mins, 2-4 players or 2 x 2 (Rick)
Dexikon - deck-building spelling game, 60 mins, 2-5 players (Andrew Rowse)
Cursed Temple - secret roles and queue manipulation, 40 mins, 2-5 players (Andrew Rowse) 
Untitled - 3D abstract strategy game, 15-20 mins, 2 players (Gokce Balkan)
Hold the Front Page - newspaper game, 30-90 mins, 2- 6 players (Andrew Bond)
Art Dealer - art collection game, 90 mins, 2-5 players (Andrew Bond)
Life's a Beach - deckchair tile laying game, 60 mins, 2-4 players (Andrew Bond)
Venice: City of Trade - light-strategy family-euro, trading and building game, 60-75 mins, 2-4 players (Brett Gilbert & Matt Dunstan)