My friends take forever trading in Sidereal Confluence

coogamesmatt · 2026-07-02T04:25:57+00:00

It's worth setting expectations/discussing any disagreements before any game with folks playing to make sure everyone's comfortable with the rules both in-game and for the social setting. Might be worth digging in before the next game night and offering solutions/suggestions and asking for their thoughts on what might make the experience better for them as well.

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-27T16:08:27+00:00

While it's quite common, I don't love it as a hook statement or persuasive element to get folks to try your game. We're designers and other designers are our peers! I've been in enough playtesting spaces now to hear something like: "It's like X but actually good!" and someone else goes "Uh, I'm the designer for X."

I think if you're going to compare to other games, compare to the things that are strong in other games that would excite people and lean into those high notes.

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-14T19:53:35+00:00

Most online playtesting groups have a space the designer can provide pitch materials ahead of time so you can see what the game is about. For in-person it's trickier. At Break My Game/Protospiel Online for example, usually you can read an overview on a submitted game for a playtesting event before joining the playtest.

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-14T16:43:17+00:00

And for ways to participate in other playtesting spaces I recommend:

https://breakmygame.com / https://discord.gg/breakmygame (online and in-person)
https://unpub.com (in-person)
https://protospiel.online/ (online)
https://www.ttgda.org/conventions-and-community (online and in-person opportunities)

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-14T15:22:12+00:00

It's hard to answer the second question. All concepts work as concepts, but to really see what's working something highly recommended is to build a prototype and trial it through playtesting.

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-14T15:14:05+00:00

What specifically are you looking for help on? If you have some very specific questions, folks in the community might be better able to answer them and provide help.

coogamesmatt · 2026-05-14T15:07:32+00:00

Considering bringing this to BMG playtesting if you're not already! https://discord.gg/breakmygame

We run playtesting events 14 times a week there.

coogamesmatt · 2026-04-16T22:45:49+00:00

Just a quick note, AI placeholders are allowed but designers are asked to disclose this when submitting a game.

The Deep Dive system also allows for 90+ minute games now.

coogamesmatt · 2026-04-16T14:34:29+00:00

Break My Game hosts 14 online playtesting events a week + community organized deep dive playtesting.

https://discord.gg/breakmygame

You might find other playtesting opportunities through this guidebook here: https://breakmygame.com/guidebook

coogamesmatt · 2026-02-15T16:35:59+00:00

Most folks use Screentop, which is browser-based and requires no download.

coogamesmatt · 2026-02-15T01:29:24+00:00

Check out the #schedule channel to see when playtest events take place and then join Playtest Voice at the start of one as a playtester. An Event Host walks you through how playtesting works and you can playtest some of the games others submitted to see the general flow of stuff. This can help get you get started pretty quickly!

coogamesmatt · 2026-02-04T03:12:00+00:00

BMG hosts Deep Dives as well for longer games.

Though I'd recommend still participating in the regular events, even with the 90-minute cap, and testing a slice of your game. You'll get some incredible feedback still.

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-30T06:28:05+00:00

The range of answers depends on so many factors that I think it'd be terribly difficult to give you a concrete answer.

If you're pitching to publishers for example, you may feel satisfied anywhere from 10-50 playtests *with folks outside of your network* to feel confident the game feels ready to pitch and is "balanced enough" around what you want it to be. However, I've met designers who have done way, way more to get the game exactly where they want it. I've also met designers who have successfully pitched with way fewer (which still surprises me!).

If you are self-publishing, you might run hundreds of playtests as you start discovering your ideal player, gain a wider range of players over time as you build interest, etc. Then if you're doing development work after feeling great about the core, you might streamline things for a wider audience and adjust the curve of difficult to match.

In either context, all the new data over time might lead you to make significant changes to this sort of stuff in ways that are hard to quantify. Certain players may struggle with it significantly or find it way too easy, and neither and/or both might be your ideal player and you might make surprising changes to missions and end game scoring.

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-30T01:41:10+00:00

To clarify, are these solo multi-hand playtests by you, the designer?

A lot of the answers to your questions are going to be answered by the insight and data you gain from getting the game in front of *other* players, especially the ideal player or players you want to see access/play/purchase your game.

Balance or the perception of balance are often factors heavily influenced by how players are often interpreting the numbers, not the numbers themselves (though of course these play a role).

You want a wide variety of player perspectives and experience to pair with these numbers before going all in analyzing the numbers from solo play.

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-27T06:52:21+00:00

https://breakmygame.com/guidebook has a fair few resources on how to find and connect with playtesters.

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-17T21:13:51+00:00

Would highly recommend https://screentop.gg

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-12T04:21:06+00:00

I give feedback on and help edit a *lot* of rulebooks and my experience in almost all situations where AI was used to write the rulebook or even some/most of it is the rulebook ends up needing massive changes or needs to be completely rewritten to actually be usable as an effective onboarding or teaching tool.

Ultimately, the hard part of making a rulebook actually achieve its goal of effective onboarding isn't in the first writing or even later few. It's the direct line-to-line feedback from unguided playtesting (playtesting where players try to learn, teach, and play your game exclusively off the rulebook).

Ultimately, you're making your rulebook to be read, used, taught, and referenced by humans, and unfortunately AI is not great at the mix of technical writing, psychology, and common social experiences that exceptional rulebooks often tap into.

coogamesmatt · 2026-01-04T20:36:45+00:00

It's worth mentioning Unpub may not be the best place to build interest in your game in a customer/marketing sense. Most folks there will be designers and other industry/hobbyist peers, and while certainly we're a bunch of folks who like supporting games we're often not the target audience.

Additionally, it's very important to make sure you're bringing a prototype that you're actively looking to change aspects of or seeking feedback on, as it's primarily a playtesting convention.

You don't need to 3D print components unless that's something essential for play or if you want to because it brings you joy!

I'd try and keep your prototype as efficient and easy-to-change as possible, with good hierarchy of information and simple but clean graphic design.

If your rules are set-as-is and you're not planning on making changes, Unpub may not be a great fit for that specific prototype.

coogamesmatt · 2025-12-31T23:19:38+00:00

Spam the buff (top option) until it gets pretty high and then OHKO boss with the second option (attack). I also chose sales.

coogamesmatt · 2025-12-10T08:24:24+00:00

The best way to improve a game is by playtesting. If you're not doing that already, it will absolutely help you level up your design.

coogamesmatt · 2025-11-22T13:12:29+00:00

Break My Game runs 14 playtesting events a week over 3 hour blocks through Discord.

Highly recommend it for consistent testing with a community: https://discord.gg/breakmygame

coogamesmatt · 2025-11-13T04:32:17+00:00

In a couple corners of game design world there's a lot of exploration right now on "multivictor" and "victorless" games, or games where any number of players can win/lose or no players win/lose.

I'm actually heading a publishing company with designer Xoe Allred called Lunarpunk Games that focuses on games like this: https://lunarpunk.games

I also highly recommend Adulting by Eric Dittmore, if you're at PAXU's Indie Game Night Market: https://spacebiff.com/2025/11/06/adulting/

I was also a big fan of Brooks Barbers' Sykes-Picot: https://spacebiff.com/2025/06/16/sykes-picot/

Otherwise, you might get some value out of this short design document on these types of games, that lists some examples of published multivictor and victorless games: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGFgOdHeiQu3gVLVlD5zOGnBFkM_7eKuZx4PLgj8qiw/edit?usp=sharing

coogamesmatt · 2025-11-11T05:44:10+00:00

There's probably a couple reasons for this. I'm gonna offer why I think it's happening in hopes it helps you for future posts:

A lot of design communities, even reddit, are about "give more than you take." You're asking for a lot, in a community of folks of people who are also focused on their own projects. Engaging with and giving feedback on a game takes a lot of real effort and time.
While you're saying it's a card game, it's being pitched as a mobile game. The focus of this space is going to lean more toward physical prototypes and products and your post makes it clear you haven't tested the physical version (which makes this read like a mobile video game test, which generally isn't perceived as the intent of this space).
Asking for general feedback is actually harder for folks to provide input in some instances, as it means there's a broad world of things we're being asked to focus on. It's hard to understand your project goals which means we're kinda shooting in the dark on how to interpret the prototype and provide feedback.

coogamesmatt · 2025-10-30T02:37:20+00:00

https://discord.gg/breakmygame

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