The Need to Playtest

You rarely get it right your first time. Whether you’re writing a story, filming a movie scene, or designing a game, you’ll probably need multiple takes to work out the kinks. In game design, playtesting is the proving grounds where the original idea for a game gets hammered and molded into a finished product. Without a strong playtest effort, many games wouldn’t be balanced, re-playable, or even fun.

For most designers, both aspiring and established, they need to go beyond their inner circle of friends to find the game within their idea. Playing your own ideas over and over again with the same people will only tell you so much. You’ll get a great perspective on the opinions of a closed group of people, but that doesn’t prepare your idea for the realities of the open market. A strong community of people is necessary to make a published game a reality.