Larry Levy:  A Little Help from Your Friends

Suppose, like so many of us, you’re an amateur game designer and you’re just dying to get a few of your creations published, so they can be hailed by your peers.  What’s the most important thing you could have going for you?  My first thought is “talentâ€?, but I know an awful lot of talented would-be designers who have yet to hit the big time.  Persistence and a good knowledge of gaming are important as well, but also aren’t in particularly short supply.  So what’s the missing ingredient that would let you achieve your goal?

How about a good steady group of playtesters?  A bunch of friends who don’t mind repeatedly playing your prototypes, who’ll make suggestions on how to improve play, and who don’t mind hurting your feelings if it leads to a better game.

That may sound a bit crazy, but I really think it’s a wonderful resource to have available.  Coming up with a good design is important, but properly tweaking and balancing it is even more vital.  And the only reliable way of doing that is extended playtesting.  But that can be a hard thing to accomplish—after all, most of your friends, like you, would much rather play the latest and greatest new published game (or an old favorite) than take a chance with some untested prototype or, even worse, play the damn thing again for the sixth time in the last two weeks.  A group willing to put a new game through its paces is a precious thing indeed.

What brought this to mind was one of Tom Vasel’s last printed Interviews by an Optimist (that was an excellent series—I will surely miss it), this one of Caylus designer William Attia.  What was of most interest in the interview, besides Attia’s remarkably humble attitude toward his creation, was how important the Ystari group was in creating the game.  Since Ystari is such a small company, it’s not surprising that the playtest group is just a bunch of friends who have a regular game night.  The difference, of course, is that they play a lot of prototypes, including all the games that have been published by the company.  Given the quality of those games, you have to congratulate the group on their contributions to the designs.

This isn’t an isolated instance.  Probably the best known group of steady playtesters are the Frogs, Martin Wallace’s mates that patiently playtest his designs for Warfrog.  From what has come out about these sessions, it’s obvious that this group’s input is extremely important in shaping these games and getting them to market.  Of course, Wallace deserves credit for keeping the group together and pushing them to maintain their high standards.  But I’m also pretty sure Martin feels very lucky to have such a loyal collection of friends to test his ambitious designs.

No Euro designer has had more written about his design process than Reiner Knizia and his multiple playtest groups (all based in England, where he now lives) are legendary.  Knizia’s dedication to his craft and his remarkable sense of organization is evident in these tales, but even though he is clearly the guiding force in forming and maintaining these groups, it’s also apparent that these groups do yeoman work in pushing the designs forward.  There’s no way that Knizia could churn out as many games as he does without the support and assistance of these playtest groups.

There are other steady playtest groups of note.  Alan Moon has a collection of noted gamers who are always eager to playtest his new games.  Many of these folks are based around Boston, but others are just old pals or long-time Gathering of Friends attendees.  Splotter is a group of college buddies who began designing games while still in school and they rely on each other and various friends for playtesting; they’ve had great success for a small company.  Then there are designers who band together to help each other out.  Friedemann Friese, Andrea Meyer, and Marcel-André Casasola-Merkle form the nucleus of one such group.  There’s also a tremendous amount of assistance and cross-pollenization among the new collection of Italian designers that are currently making their mark.  Just look at the acknowledgements of most games and you’re sure to see a familiar name among the playtesters.

Of course, not every game needs a large collection of sophisticated gamers to carry it along the design process.  Klaus Teuber has said that during his most productive years (around ’88 to ‘97) his games were almost exclusively playtested by his family!  That is, he, his wife, and their two young children.  Not a classic development group to be sure, but they managed to help Teuber fashion six Games of the Year during that time.  So, as always, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

But imagine having a group of talented gamers ready and willing to playtest your mad creations at the drop of a hat.  You might not come up with another Caylus, but I’d bet you’d be willing to take your chances with what you all could come up with.

Yet More Essen Games to Ponder
One of Kosmos’ big box releases, Die Säulen der Erde, did nothing to entice me when it was first announced.  Information was sketchy and its co-designer, Michael Rieneck (Druidenwalzer, Dracula, Around the World in 80 Days), tends to create lighter games than I usually go for.  But this week, more details were released and I have to admit I’m intrigued.  On the one hand, the theme (building a cathedral) and basic mechanics (using resources, laborers, and gold to get the job done) sound quite interesting.  On the other hand, there are event cards and random taxation, and that kind of potential chaos always sends up a red flag for me.  This could be very good or just another beautiful, but overly abstract German game.  Still, I’ll be looking forward to more news about this one.

Oh yeah, Wolfgang Kramer will also have a new game that will be published by Adlung.  It’s called Im Bann der Pyramide.  Any new Kramer game is always worth a look!

© 2006 Larry Levy

---

Comments:

You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free, but if you appreciate the news, previews, reviews and other material posted on Boardgame News, please consider becoming a member to keep the info flowing to your screen!

One of the other big advantages of having a steady group is having a reason to work on a design. When we had a group that met weekly, I had the impetus to make something playable to get something to the table at least every other session. I managed to get once solid design done, and four or five abandoned games that I can hopefully someday loot for ideas. Moo, Frank Posted by Frank Branham on Oct 14, 2006 at 09:31 AM | #

Being in a gaming group where the majority of gamers are game designers has really helped me in my own design process.  It’s also much easier to convince them to play my designs when I’m willing to test theirs. Also, you cannot underestimate the opinions of friends and family, especially if you are trying to make an accessible design.  My wife is my toughest critic, and my student gaming group love to be included in my design process. Posted by Jeff Allers on Oct 14, 2006 at 10:31 AM | #

Larry; Apparently, the new Kramer game is a re-work of Der Schatz des Pharaos, which was released by Berliner Spielkarten in 1996. I’m told it’s been reworked a little, though, which is hopeful, since the rating on BGG of the original (with admittedly few ratings) isn’t that great. pk Posted by Patrick Korner on Oct 14, 2006 at 05:02 PM | #

Thanks, Patrick.  I’ve never played the original, so I remain hopeful.  Although, to be honest, there aren’t too many of Kramer’s light games that I care for too much. Posted by Larry Levy on Oct 14, 2006 at 06:05 PM | #

Most of the groups I play with are eager to try out new games, which is a blessing and a curse: you can easily get your prototype played, but only once!  An idea playtest group would be happy to play the same game multiple times in a row, or at least in multiple consecutive sessions, and I think that’s pretty rare. By the way, I count only four Spielen des Jahres from Teuber.  Is six a typo or am I missing some? Posted by Doug Orleans on Oct 15, 2006 at 12:54 PM | #

That should be “ideal” playtest group, sorry.  And “Spiele”, not “Spielen.” Sure wish I could edit comments… Posted by Doug Orleans on Oct 15, 2006 at 12:55 PM | #

Ha!  I caught someone! I was including DSP winners as well, Doug (which is why I craftily said Games of the Year, rather than SdJ winners).  In addition to Teuber’s four SdJ’s, two of his games won DSP’s, but not SdJ’s (Der Fliegende Holländer, which for some reason wasn’t even nominated for an SdJ, and Löwenherz).  That gives him six Games of the Year. Posted by Larry Levy on Oct 15, 2006 at 01:30 PM | #

Well, hmph, DSP winners are not Games of the Year, they are German Game Prize winners.  :P Posted by Doug Orleans on Oct 15, 2006 at 01:42 PM | #

< Back Home