Playtesting with Purpose

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Playtesting with Purpose

A core tenant of game development is playtesting. You must playtest a lot in order to refine ideas, improve the flow of play, gain insight and new perspectives, and to simply make sure what you have is fun. This article is about best practices when playtesting, taking notes, identifying problems, developing solutions, and tracking this information in a way that saves time and improves your playtesting efficiency.

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Ruling the Roost

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Ruling the Roost

This post is about boardgame rulebooks. The following represents my opinions on the subject – the elements I consider to be necessary for a rulebook to be good, and the things that I consider to be mistakes that are commonly made in writing them. This article describes the process that I use when creating rulebooks for my own games, and my reasons for doing so. Although I cite specific examples of design elements that I agree and disagree with, I do not do so to disparage any other’s work. You may not agree with my opinions, but I welcome comments, other examples, and suggestions for improvements.

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