This evening I held the blind playtesting session for It's Alive! in a local pub. I'd invited a few friends and some people from the local games club. It was a great night. It's Alive! was played probably around twelve times in total with 2 to 5 players. It was a fun evening.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive - much better than that for Border Reivers when I did the same thing. Here's the breakdown, I've done the scores for everyone, and excluding my friends:
| Aspect | Gamers Average | Full Averages |
|---|---|---|
| Rules: Clarity | 7.00 | 6.57 |
| Rules: Completeness | 8.80 | 8.43 |
| Gameplay: Choosing a card | 8.25 | 8.00 |
| Gameplay: Buying a card | 8.00 | 8.33 |
| Gameplay: Selling a card | 8.50 | 8.83 |
| Gameplay: Auctioning a card | 9.25 | 9.50 |
| Gameplay: Winning conditions | 8.40 | 8.57 |
| Gameplay: Game Length | 9.60 | 9.71 |
| Artwork | 9.80 | 9.71 |
| Overall Rating | 8.70 | 8.50 |
In addition, five out of seven ordered a copy, and the remaining two were maybes :-)
As with Border Reivers, before the playtesting I got last minute nerves and was worried the money I'd already invested was a false economy, but I'm now full of confidence again. I've not had a chance to fully digest the feedback, but it's clear that the clarity of the rules is the weakness again, I need to make sure they are more clearly explained.
Clearly I've still got stuff to learn about games publishing, but I feel I've learnt a lot in the last year, and I hope it shows in the selection and production of It's Alive!
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7 comments:
Wow. About the same results I got at BGG.con .
Looks great. Looks like everyone likes the artwork, too.
Yehuda
Yeah, a good night. Everyone picked it up really quickly and people seemed to enjoy it.
Like Yehuda says, the scores for the artwork are very impressive. I was amazed by it, it's a very good looking game!
Well done Yehuda and Jack!
Thanks, guys. And an especially big thank you to those who came along either to playtest or to help me run the playtesting. I'll post a more detailed feedback in a few days, though it might not be until after the convention this weekend.
Cheers,
Jack
I'm sad I couldn't participate. But I'm keen to try this game! Jack will you be able to bring a prototype to following editions of Beyond Monopoly?
Hiya Hugo,
It's a shame you couldn't make it - I was hoping to see you there. I'm going to be way to busy to make it to BM! before July, but I should have finished copies by then...
Cheers,
Jack
I'm sure Paul could bring a prototype to BM, if you suggested it to him Jack. He's trying every opportunity to get a game in!
Hiya Lisa,
Thanks for the offer. If Paul wants to take it along to BM! when I'm not there that's fine.
If he wants to play it all the time that's fine too ;-)
Cheers,
Jack
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