Hello. I've lurked BGDF from time to time and always found it a great, sometimes humbling resource. Well, I've found a resource that's going to help me in playtesting my games and I thought it would be a good idea to pass it along to others in the same boat as myself.
The website roll20.net was designed as a means of facilitating table top roleplaying games remotely over the internet. It's very flexible and doesn't impose any kind of "rules", instead giving the game master the freedom to administer as they please. What I found, though, is that the engine is so flexible that it can just as easily be used as a platform for playing board games online. There are integrated dice mechanics, tokens which may be moved on, off, or around the board and may contain meta data or "stats", fully customizable decks of cards which may be placed on the virtual table top or held secretly in players hands, and changes made by the GM are seen by the players logued on in real time.
It may not be ideal for all games, particularly ones with lots of bits, but since table-top RPGs work in the same kind of environment as board games, it can be configured to adapt to many variations. I've implemented three of my prototypes already though I haven't had the opportunity yet to actually try them out with someone. But the site promises to make board games accessible to the internet, which in turn gives us the opportunity to playtest our designs with people all over the world.
I don't think I need to elabourate on how exciting that is. No longer are we confined to those gaming groups in our immediate area, and designers will have the opportunity to observe sessions directly even as they're taking place in other parts of the globe.
