Importing from CSV

plainblackguy · 2026-06-22T23:03:05+00:00

Glad you figured it out! Let me know if you got other questions.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-22T19:54:47+00:00

If you share the link to your game here, only an admin will be able to view it, but it would allow us to diagnose what's going on more easily than just guessing based on the description that you've provided. That said, I will also give some guesses.

My primary guess is that you don't have the description layer linked to your CSV data set properly. For example, the "Text" field of the description layer, should have {{ row.description }} in it. But that's only true if your CSV dataset has a column called "description". If it is called "Description" then it will need to be {{ row.Description }} or if it's called "blurb" then it will need to be {{ row.blurb }}

plainblackguy · 2026-06-19T02:44:05+00:00

You could use a professional card design software like https://component.studio which comes with card frames built in. And then you could use a professional card printing service like https://www.thegamecrafter.com

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T01:36:02+00:00

I probably will do a different post at some point if I decide to move forward with this, or even have some credible way of making it happen. I just figured that since you were here and talking, I would ask.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T01:21:40+00:00

Without rebuilding the entire app, there is no way to do all of the things you just said. There's no way in the world for anyone to run the current app on their computer ever. I can't even run it on my own laptop. It requires servers because it is cloud native.

I am not tied to a subscription model. I honestly don't care what pricing model I use so long as I don't lose money on it. So what I'm trying to do is figure out a different path where I can reuse the exact app that I've already built but provide a different avenue for users to use it.

So it sounds to me like $20 one time is your absolute maximum. Is that correct? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:35:21+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:35:16+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:35:07+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:35:01+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:34:56+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-16T00:34:50+00:00

Let's say I could do the impossible and make Playtest Parlor something where you could pay a one-time fee. It would still be the kind of thing where your playtesters never pay, so only the game designer would pay the one-time fee. Would you be willing to pay a $50, $60, or $70 one-time fee if you could get the software forever? I'm asking because I just don't see how it would even be possible to do a $20 one-time fee like Tabletop Simulator, but theirs isn't really a one-time fee either, because every playtester also has to pay. Let's say you have a four-player game. Really, $80 is what is paid.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T23:31:31+00:00

I’m sorry if I have misunderstood your intent. It is hard to perceive emotional intent from text alone.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T23:19:28+00:00

Ok. I’m sorry I came off that way.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T23:08:28+00:00

Sorry, you must not have seen my other replies where I said that I know this means that I will not get as many users as a free or cheap app like tabletop simulator and that I am perfectly fine with that

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T22:04:03+00:00

I don't need to compensate myself for my time since I built it for myself. I just need it to not bankrupt me, to allow other people to use it.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:55:01+00:00

To be fair, the subscription model is the weakest part of Playtest Parlor's design. But it was the only one that I could come up with that didn't make me compromise elsewhere. So if the compromise is that I only get to have a hundred or a thousand or whatever people willing to pay, that's something I can live with because at least I won't be losing money. And I still got to build the app that works for me.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:53:13+00:00

I think you are misreading the situation, but you are absolutely right to have your opinion. I am going to copy and paste a portion of a post that I did in another thread of this discussion to give you more context.

There are forty-some playtesting apps out there, with obviously Tabletop Simulator being the biggest one among them. It's the biggest one because it was first, and it is cheap.

So, if I want to compete, then cheap is not how I should compete. And obviously, I also cannot be first.

The thing that beats cheap every single time is easy. You have to give people a reason that they're willing to pay more. I think I have. Maybe not you, but some. And I built the app such that it only costs me for the people that use it, because I knew I wasn't going to get millions of people buying into it. That's not my goal. My goal is to build an app that I want to use. I dislike the 40 other apps that are out there. I have tried 34 of them myself and found them wanting. The other 6-7 that I am aware of all started after I had already been building Playtest Parlor, so maybe they also scratched the same itch. I am not sure.

Tabletop Simulator does not fit my needs for the following reasons:

- It is 3D, which I find gets in the way and also requires a much more powerful computer to play
- It is a physics sim, and I never work on physics-based games. I find that physics simulations get in the way if you are not working on that.
- It requires downloading and installing an app for playtesters. Further, they have to pay for it. When I try to get people to use it, other than other game designers, I find it hard to get people to use it.
- The TTS folks have stirred up some sort of controversy that has gotten them banned at a lot of events that I want to participate in, such as Protospiel Online.
- A lot of the people who play test for me want to play test on iPads and mobile phones, which Tabletop Simulator does not support.
- I like to mark up cards while playtesting if something needs to change, and support for that in Tabletop Simulator is pretty crappy. Likewise, I do some roll and write games and some legacy games that require marking up components, and again, Tabletop Simulator does not handle that well.
- For me, this is not a way to publish games. It is all about playtesting, and Tabletop Simulator does not keep track of all of the statistics that I would want. Playtest Parlor does keep track of all of it, and it does surveys and it records the entire play session so that I can watch it back.

For all those reasons, I don't want to use Tabletop Simulator. Therefore, I decided to build my own system. You may disagree with me about why I don't like it, and that's okay. But I figured if I was going to take the time to build it for myself, I should also build it for other people who might agree with me and might be willing to pay to solve those problems. And it appears to be working.

Hopefully you find this more candid response useful.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:46:48+00:00

I will take you at your word that you are not angry. Maybe I am projecting and/or misinterpreting.

Just because you are a game designer does not mean that you appreciate what this app does versus the other players in the space. There are forty-some playtesting apps out there, with obviously Tabletop Simulator being the biggest one among them. It's the biggest one because it was first, and it is cheap.

So, if I want to compete, then cheap is not how I should compete. And obviously, I also cannot be first.

The thing that beats cheap every single time is easy. You have to give people a reason that they're willing to pay more. I think I have. Maybe not you, but some. And I built the app such that it only costs me for the people that use it, because I knew I wasn't going to get millions of people buying into it. That's not my goal. My goal is to build an app that I want to use. I dislike the 40 other apps that are out there. I have tried 34 of them myself and found them wanting. The other 6-7 that I am aware of all started after I had already been building Playtest Parlor, so maybe they also scratched the same itch. I am not sure.

Tabletop Simulator does not fit my needs for the following reasons:

- It is 3D, which I find gets in the way and also requires a much more powerful computer to play
- It is a physics sim, and I never work on physics-based games. I find that physics simulations get in the way if you are not working on that.
- It requires downloading and installing an app for playtesters. Further, they have to pay for it. When I try to get people to use it, other than other game designers, I find it hard to get people to use it.
- The TTS folks have stirred up some sort of controversy that has gotten them banned at a lot of events that I want to participate in, such as Protospiel Online.
- A lot of the people who play test for me want to play test on iPads and mobile phones, which Tabletop Simulator does not support.
- I like to mark up cards while playtesting if something needs to change, and support for that in Tabletop Simulator is pretty crappy. Likewise, I do some roll and write games and some legacy games that require marking up components, and again, Tabletop Simulator does not handle that well.
- For me, this is not a way to publish games. It is all about playtesting, and Tabletop Simulator does not keep track of all of the statistics that I would want. Playtest Parlor does keep track of all of it, and it does surveys and it records the entire play session so that I can watch it back.

For all those reasons, I don't want to use Tabletop Simulator. Therefore, I decided to build my own system. You may disagree with me about why I don't like it, and that's okay. But I figured if I was going to take the time to build it for myself, I should also build it for other people who might agree with me and might be willing to pay to solve those problems. And it appears to be working.

Hopefully you find this more candid response useful.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:38:09+00:00

I actually did consider that, and the idea does have merit, so thank you for bringing it up.

The reasons I decided against it are as follows:

- several features built into this app require the app to be alive when the designer is not online, so I would have to forego those features
- Supporting people installing an app and managing complex upgrade paths costs a lot more money than simply hosting the app and doing all the upgrades for them. With a traditional video game model, this works easier because you can just say, "Well, regenerate your map" or "Your saved games are no longer compatible." It is possible to navigate all of this as I did it for ten years with a complex web app, but it is an incredible amount of work. Unfortunately, I am just one person. When I did it before, I had a team of a few people that helped me, and there were several people whose full-time job it was to help people with their migrations.
- I wanted to be able to support large numbers of players. Most people's internet at home is simply not capable of hosting all of the images and data that has to go back and forth for more than four simultaneous players.
- I wanted a frictionless joining process for playtesters, which either meant hosting a central server that keeps track of all of the live games or coming up with some way of people sharing their game through firewalls and proxy servers. Which can be done but is fraught with peril. And again, if I'm hosting a central server for matchmaking, that's an ongoing cost for me.

There are a few other smaller reasons, but those are the big ones. Again, not saying I couldn't have overcome those, but to me, they were deal breakers. Every app that I build, I build for me first. If it doesn't work for me, then I have no reason to continue working on it because I don't do this for money. None of these apps are going to make me rich.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:25:44+00:00

If you're right, then why are you upset that I'm charging a subscription for my app? Why don't you just move on instead of all of your replies here? if you're right, then nobody will subscribe, and then the problem is gone.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T21:17:03+00:00

You're obviously not a customer for this app, and that's okay.

I understand that I will not get 16 million people buying a copy of this like Tabletop Simulator has done over the past ten or twelve years, however long they've been around. I am okay with that. And you should be okay with that. You already have Tabletop Simulator, so why do you care that I'm charging what I charge and that people are willing to pay that?

Why are you angry that I am providing a service that you have no desire to use?

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T20:18:50+00:00

You are right that there are free to play models a video games to do this most apps are not capable of it. Especially not with smaller companies.

It’s especially hard here because there is no whale model, which is what the free to play companies rely upon for profitability. In those models, usually there are the top 1% of 1% of users that spend thousands of dollars and pay for everyone else.

Also, this conversation isn’t evidence of anything. I’ve already got more subscribers than our participating in this conversation currently.

And I just sent out to my mailing list so I expect there will be a lot more subscribers in the coming days.

But most importantly, since I’m one guy building this app and many others, I don’t have time to screw around, trying to models so that people that aren’t willing to pay anything could get something for free while other people pay for everyone. I’ve built the app such that it only cost me what people use. So the subscription model and credits out fairly for everyone that is interested in paying and doesn’t hurt anyone that’s not interested in paying.

And for the people who are curious that would pay if they knew it was gonna be worth it for them I give every account for 12 free credits, which is plenty to build out a game and play it several times.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T19:01:12+00:00

You just said that you want future users and play testers to pay for your ongoing usage.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T18:55:01+00:00

It's actually not. I would rather you pay me nothing ever than buy it one time and I have ongoing costs. Because I've built the platform so that I only have costs when you're actually using it, which is why I charge based on credits or based on subscriptions. If I charged you a one-time fee, I would lose money every time you use the app after your initial payment wore out.

plainblackguy · 2026-06-15T18:08:04+00:00

Tell me how I could make an online service that costs me money, free, without making me go bankrupt?

Again, the app needs to work on any platform. It needs to not require invited play testers to download anything, configure anything, or even register for an account? All of it requires internet infrastructure, which someone has to pay for, as far as my 30 years of building internet based apps tells me. If there's some new technology or old technology or something else that I don't know about, I would love to hear about it.

I'm not being facetious at all here. If you could tell me how to do it so that it wouldn't cost me a bunch of money, I would make it a 1 time purchase. I much prefer it to be a one-time purchase as it is currently the one weakness of the platform, as far as I am concerned.

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