Today I got news about the *blind* playtests that occurred this month. A "Game Lab", a group of playtesters comprised of different gaming backgrounds from very experienced gamers to tabletop neophytes, has been putting our game "Tradewars - Homeworld" through their test lab.
Overall our game was given a 6.542 average score from a sample of twelve (12) different players. On Board Game Geek that would put our game in 663 position! Not too bad that means that we're in the Top 1,000 games...
This is not an insignificant outcome considering one player ranked the game at a 2.5 (because it wasn't the type of game for him). So that shows how strong is the game's potential: we got a 2.5 and we still have an average that is close to 7.0. Getting a 7.0 would be epic since it would put us in the first 500!
Maybe this is still possible... We will be having MORE *blind* playtests and we will see what this 2nd group of playtesters think.
Veteran players said that the game plays like a hybrid of several other games: namely Race for the Galaxy, Civilization and a touch of Firefly. I like being compared to game #22 on Board Game Geek (BGG) list of game! Kind of flattering...
The game was played over three rounds with different test groups of four (4) players for a total of seven (7) individual games.
For all those interested in how our game progresses... Stay tuned!
Comments
Most interesting aspect
I was *impressed* how experience gamers actually LIKED the game and that there was a good balance of strategy in the game... When you design a game, you first want to know what your playtesters think of the game. If they give you a thumbs up, well then the game has potential. The next hurdle is doing well with complete strangers and getting an honest feedback since the results are completely anonymous!
And I feel that a score of 6.542 is pretty honest assessment.
We *hope* that this positive outcome will encourage some Publishers that we have contacted to give our game a second look!
The other point I wanted to make - is that once you design a game, have it playtested and then are no longer 100% focused on it, especially when you have other projects on the go, you tend to think that maybe that earlier design which you thought was awesome may not be so impressive...
It's feedback like this that gives you a boost to know that the game's potential for certain lies within the Top 500! We'll see! :)
Damn it...
I so BADLY want a 6.550 score of my game! Why? It would mean my game is better than a game of Poker (1810)! Hehehe... Just a coincidence that Poker is ranked 657 on the ALL-TIME best games list. 663 isn't very far away!
Congrats on the feedback!
Kris,
That's very encouraging news from the lab! It's a great feeling when you get such positive feedback...and to find that they compared it to successful names out on BGG, even better.
Cheers,
Joe