Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab · Gabe Barrett

How to Playtest like a Pro with Rob Daviau

·1 hr 13 min·4 clips

"Playtesting sucks and you need to get used to that," Rob Daviau says.

Playtesting starts before the rules feel ready. Rob lays out a simple progression: first, the designer teaches the game, answers questions, and uses the table to find what breaks. Then the designer backs off a little. Printed rules sit nearby, players start checking them, and the gaps in the rules become harder to ignore. Eventually, the game has to survive without its designer hovering over it. Players teach it themselves. Someone may film the session. That part matters because video cuts through the messy memory of what happened. The designer can see rules mistakes, confusion, pauses, and body language instead of arguing afterward about who remembers it right. The rough bit is emotional. The host keeps coming back to that inside-the-bottle problem: when a designer is too close to the game, reality gets blurry. Good playtest groups help, but so does detaching from the work and coming back with fresh eyes. Rob is practical about iteration. Early sessions are not really rules tests. Sometimes the designer should change something mid-test. Each stage teaches a different thing. Feedback is more than data, though. It pokes the designer's ego, usually right where the game feels personal. Near the end, Rob widens the lesson. If a game does not sell, do a post-mortem. Was it marketing, design, graphics, too much, too little, or something else? Then decide whether it is worth another try. The episode treats playtesting as a craft, and keeps pulling the focus back to what actually happens at the table.

As heard by us

A practical playtesting talk that turns honesty, observation, and iteration into useful design habits.

Daviau and the host treat playtesting as a way to see a game more clearly once other players are in the room. The discussion starts with basics for newer designers, then moves into sharper questions about feedback, note taking, what to watch during a test, and what to ask…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want your playtests to tell you the truth, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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