Should I send a prototype or just a query letter?

I've read the submission guidelines for just about every publisher out there. They ALL specifically state that you are not to send a prototype first, you must send a query letter.

The fact that FFG specifically leaves out that part, and makes reference (a couple of times) to submitting the actual prototype, leads me to believe they want the game right away.

Let me know how it goes - I have a game I designed with them in mind, so I would be interested in hearing about your experience.

The obvious response is that you should try your damnest to playtest the heck out of your design and get the game "right" before sending it off to a publisher. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. A publisher is willing to spend sometime perfecting an already good design, but they won't spend time fixing a bad, mediocre or even average design. I have submitted games too early in the past as well and regretted it. I now have a rule of thumb that says that I want to playtest a game at least five times in a row without making any modifications to it.

Then again, I find it incredibly hard to follow my own rule of thumb. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that I'm a perfectionist and keep tweaking and tuning the game into infinity, which means I hardly ever have five playtests in a row with an unmodified design. At a certain point I just have to make a judgment call: keep on tweaking and tweaking and tweaking, or simply decide that the game is "good enough" and submit it to a publisher with the risk that it might not be perfect or that you come up with a brilliant idea for the game, one minute after you dropped the prototype in the mail.

I do think that it is generally a bad idea to submit a design with changes that you haven't tested. This is a recipe for disaster. It is my experience that sometimes seemingly insignificant changes can have a unexpected impact on a design, and sometimes you can't really tell without playtesting. So: playtest, playtest and playtest some more, but also know when to stop tweaking and tuning a design and just submit the damn thing.

This strikes me a bit odd. If having them play your game comes off as a "favor", perhaps the game needs some major retooling. Seriously, if I have a play test that people are not enjoying I know it's a failure.

I have a couple people at work that won't play the normal games I bring in but if I'm bringing in a new prototype to playtest they want in on those games. I've never felt like I was imposing on anyone having them play my designs.

If it's a real raw design then usually I just need to see a couple rounds in action to get the info I need. When it's time for some heavy playtesting, the design is sound enough that the sessions are just fun and not work like.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if people aren't asking to play the game, and enjoying the experience, it's probably not ready tp send out to publishers.

KFG didn't connect the notion of playtesting being a "favor" with people not enjoying the game. I have to agree with him; I think asking someone to playtest your game is to ask them to spend some of their gaming time to help you polish your game creation. Obviously, you hope that your game will prove enjoyable, but there isn't the "guaranteed" level of enjoyment that a published game ostensibly provides, and in general the presentation and tactile aspects of the prototype will be below publication standards as well.

Obviously, your second point is valid, that if people aren't enjoying the game, the game needs work. But viewing playtesting as a favor is, I think, accurate indepedent of the quality of the game. The players are helping you with your creation; to not view that contribution with an appropriate level of gratitude is to show a lack of respect for their gaming time and an overestimation of the interchangability of a published design and a prototype.

On the other hand, I don't think one needs to feel guilty about asking people to playtest, either, and I confess that I struggle with this. In general, I hope that if people aren't interested they will just say so, but I'm realistic enough about interpersonal dynamics to suspect that people may say "yes" out of a perceived obligation of friendship rather than a genuine interest in testing. In that sense, I completely sympathize with KFG's feeling guilty. But it sounds like his concerns are unfounded; people have asked to play his game. That's always a good sign!

-Jeff