5 Rules for Playtests

I've finally gotten around to having some plausible working playtests alongside my day job schedule, so we'll see some progress on vehicles in Hammercalled very soon.

Right now this is a bit of a sticking point for Segira. Many of the core concepts have been tested, but I want to see them run into conflict with reality and execution.

Also, while I'm on it, here's a quick overview of five things I've noticed help with playtests.

1. Make your goals clear. Let your players know what in particular you want to test. There is such a thing as a general playtest where you just want an immersed experience, but if you're working on something in particular let your players know.
2. Test before playtest. You don't want to have things with obvious glaring errors. This makes your playtesters suffer (because their feedback is meaningless relative to the obvious elephant in the room), and it also gives you a chance to work on what wouldn't require a whole ton of effort to notice and fix prior to having other people put their eyes on it.
3. Small iterations, frequently. You want to have a lot of small changes, but never large things. When I've been playtesting Hammercalled, it will often be weeks before some of my groups catch up to the current state of the rules.
4. Change on the fly. If you have an idea while playtesting, or if the players notice something, don't be hesitant to change. Do this on an experimental basis: if the new thing doesn't work out, don't commit to not switching back.
5. Try to have fun. Not only is this something that makes playtesting more mutually beneficial for you and your players, but it's also an important part of any game. If your playtesting isn't fun-centric, you have to ask yourself what the goal is. Balance is not necessarily fun.