Playtest #2

My first playtest of my first game was last week, and boy-howdy, did I blow it!

I did exactly what they say not to do: I became very defensive and was compelled to rebut my tester’s critique with a rambling explanation of my own thought process. It didn’t last long, but the damage was done. My tester clammed up right after that, and I headed back to the drawing board feeling rather despondent.

Cut to tonight, when I got together with a friend for dinner and some games, and he unexpectedly asked if he could test it. “Of course!” I said, as I had just updated my Rules and made my Sell Sheet. I had made some pretty significant changes, and the whole opening bidding section didn’t work at all. My tester broke my game within the first 15 seconds.

I wanted to slink away and hide, but we were at my house so that would’ve been awkward. Instead, we made our way through the rest of the game and I managed to keep my mouth shut, mostly by focusing on writing down his comments (and especially his questions). I have some concrete things to work on now, and it was awesome (if nerve-wracking) to get some feedback from someone else.

Back to the drawing board for another iteration. Wish me luck!