How do you formalize feedback from playtesting?

[jp_miller]

Hi all,

I'm preparing a game for playtesting and was just wondering how you manage your feedback.

So the scenario is you playtest it yourself with a few friends (great, instant feedback), and you also send it to to others you don't know so well to try out with their groups. How do you ask for feedback from the later?

- Do you give them a form with a bunch of questions on it? If so, can you show me some examples
- Are you more informal and simply ask "So, wadya think?"

It seems to me it might be most productive to send them a questionnaire but I wonder if this might be too formal.

How do you ask for feedback from your playtesting, and what has worked the best for you?

[David Berg]

Hi J.P.,

I asked Luke Crane, a guy who's published several games, a similar question.  I'll summarize his response:

Be polite but insistent, and try bribery.  If you are serious about developing your game, you want playtesters to give you feedback you can use.  Be upfront with them about that.  Playtesters should be prepared for the potential of un-fun gaming, knowing that they get to have fun throwing their opinions at you and your creation afterwards.  If that's not enough, maybe buy them beer or something.

As for what feedback you can use, it depends on where you are in your process, but "what parts got ignored or didn't work?" is always valuable.  (I'm assuming you wouldn't ask an outside group to playtest something you know is broken or irrelevant...)  If your game has many pieces, and you want your playtesters to use a specific piece, then tell them that (e.g. "make sure you runa  combat, guys!").

Alas, that's all I have to offer.  Hopefully others will chime in.  A playtest report form is a great idea, and I'd bet someone somewhere has made one...

Ps,
-David

[jp_miller]

Hey thanks, great advice.

Playtesters should be prepared for the potential of un-fun gaming, knowing that they get to have fun throwing their opinions at you and your creation afterwards.

I think that's a great swaying point to be made to playtesters.

I might try a simple form with questions like:

How many players played in your group?
How many sessions did you run?
How long were each game session?
Does your group want to play this game longer?

Then specific stuff like:

What parts got ignored or didn't work?
What did you like the most?
What did you like the least?
etc.

It's just that the last thing I want, and fear, is my playtesters emailing me back saying stuff like, "Yeah, it was Ok" or something just as uninformative.

Thanks for the tips.

[Lance D. Allen]

JP Miller,

Try that. It seems like a sound plan.

Also, if you try it, let us know how it works. I'm interested in hearing the results of a playtesting questionnaire.

[jp_miller]

Also, if you try it, let us know how it works. I'm interested in hearing the results of a playtesting questionnaire.

I'll keep you posted!

[Vordark]

I keep a changelog (in broad strokes) of what I have edited or altered since the previous revision of my rules.  When I do testing, or ask others to do testing, I put the list front and center and use it as a kind of checklist.

You could do something similar.  Just make a note of what you've changed or "fixed" since the last time you play-tested and simply ask people to focus on those bits.  I've found this usually gets me exactly the kind of feedback I want.

[jp_miller]

Cool. I'll incorporate that.