How Do You Playtest?

[Scapemage]

A lot of people around C3G playtest. It's a huge part of our project and very important to the entire process. I'm sure there are numerous playtesting styles out there, so now I ask you to share your playtesting style. Do you test all at once? One game at a time? Do you take physical notes or type on the computer? How do you choose armies?

This is just a fun compilation of everyone's unique ways to playtest. Who knows, maybe you'll pick up a few tips along the way.

[Scapemage]

I generally like to playtest all at once. Rarely do I play one game and save the other game for a later time. The point costs of my armies are often random values, as I just use a value similar to 1000 or 600 using whatever fits together with whatever unit I'm testing at the time. I never use Knockback or Glyphs, but occasionally DOs and Lava Rules. I have completed numerous playtests, and I find that typing the sheet as I play the game works best for me.

As far as tips are concerned, I can offer a few:
-I listen to music while I test. It creates a more relaxing environment and helps me focus.
-Whenever a power calls for something random to be chosen, like an Order Marker, I roll a die to keep it completely random.
-I always make sure that I am sitting in a position where I can reach everything I need without having to move. This includes both armies, their cards, and my computer.
-I notice that a lot of people indicate rounds and turns in their testing sheets. I do not do this. I prefer to tell a story (sort of) in my testing sheets. It's more fun for me and hopefully for the reader.

[TrollBrute]

I've got a blank sheet on my computer that I fill out as I'm playing the game. I've even got the markups on there so I don't have to work on it when I put it in the PM. I rarely am able to do more than one game at once, so I just do them whenever I can get to it. The form I use is borrowed from Viegon and ZJ and it does list every turn. It can be a little tiring to fill out all the time, but it helps me keep track of everything and make sure I list all the relevant information. While I know most Classic units off the top of my head, I don't yet have a great knowledge of all the C3G units so army building is my least favorite part. If the unit I'm testing has strong synergies then it's not too hard, but, unless I have a specific army to test against them, choosing the armies is the longest part of my set-up. I don't use glyphs very often, but I will use Knockback when I remember as that's one of my favorite optional rules. I didn't like to at first, but I've gotten used to testing by myself now and I find it easier to find time to do.

A few other things:
-I have a set up with the map I'm using on a table next to a desk with my laptop and all the cards and dice in reach.
-As for randomly choosing Order Markers, it hasn't come up much yet in my tests, but I just take the Order Markers I'm choosing from, shake them in my hands and remove a random one from that.
-I don't like to shorten or abbreviate names in my reports, but typing them out for every turn can be quite a pain, so I shorten when I can as long as it's obvious whom I'm referring to. So Captain America becomes Cap, Shadowcat becomes Kitty, Spider-Man becomes Spidey and so on.

[johnny139]

Grab the laptop, set it on the floor next to my map, and type as I play - putting down information at the end of the round, which I think has enough information without being TOO detailed. Music every now and then (generally instrumental/film/video game stuff; makes for good action).

And ALWAYS in one sitting. It's such a pain to set up the dice and cards and put everything together I can't imagine doing it all for just half a test.

[Hellfire]

I love to have music. In the past, I used to playtest with a Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Clint Mansell, John Williams, or Thomas Newman soundtrack. I imagine that in the future any C3G test I do will be done with music as well.

To change things up I might throw on a comic themed movie in the background.

At times I might playtest all at once but it all depends on my schedule and have to do's.

I also like to do extra playtests that test the limits of the character by placing them in extraordinary circumstances. Trapped corners, being surrounded, outnumbered, environment(map) challenges . . . that kind of stuff.

I'm not much of a play by play note taker though. I'm more of a round by round/tell major events type note taker. But that can vary depending on my mood and how meticulous I want to be. It can also depend on the design I'm playtesting.

In the end, I just try to have fun with it .

[Hellfire]

Oh, and when doing a full playtest snacks are always a welcome addition .

[Tornado]

I started off by taking hand notes but quickly gave it up. I figure if I am going to type it up, I mine as well do it right from the start. Like TB I spend a lot of time just trying to come up with army builds. Sir G's spreadsheet is a life saver and mathguy's artscow cards also help. Sometimes I like to ask the LD for suggestions on builds and always enjoy those tests.
As the rest of you I like to keep everything in arm's reach and try to do both tests at once. A lot of times one night is spent just picking out cards and getting set up.
I do the detailed round by round report. I agree that it helps keep everything in order. However it is rather boring to read so I may try to include a more reader friendly version in the future so you can read either/or. I was also thinking about including a few pics but since I have so many 'proxys' I am not sure how helpful they would be.

Great thread Scape. This is great forum for everyone to hone their playtesting.

[Griffin]

For my Heavy Hitters, I like to line up 5 Heroes and put them up against the tested unit 2 times each, and type my report online as I go.

For my Squad Tests, I line the two squads up, and knock them down one at a time and type it up when I am done.

For my first Army test, I like it to be a big 1,000 points or more and get that out of the way. Sometimes I play the game and summarize the points when I am done from memory, and sometimes I type a turn by turn report as I go. It depends on my mood and what I think the unit needs in terms of detailed reporting. Then for the last Army Test, I keep it small, around 600 points, and it makes that last game easy to finish up.

[Yodaking]

I started out taking notes by hand as the game went, then typing it up later. After a few tests I decided to just type it out directly into the blank playtest form as I tested and save myself a step. Over half way through the test and I must of hit some button because the page changed and I lost everything. So I returned to taking notes by hand. May eventually give typing it up a go again, but if I do it will be in Word where it is a bit harder to erase with just one hit of a button.

[Tornado]

I did the same Yodaking, except it was while transferring my hand written notes. I was just finishing up and it was gone. Now I type everything on Wordpad first and copy and paste.

[Yodaking]

As far as choosing the armies, I'm a sucker for some cool themed battles/armies so I often try to incorporate those into the play test when I can. First though I usually start out by picking a few units that have some synergy with the new unit or form some tactical combination that I want to test out. Then I just grab a few units I'd like for that core to fight against, either based on theme or powers/tactics. Final step is just to even out the two point totals of the armies by finding a few fill in allies that will balance things out.

Sometimes though I'll start by picking units for the new figure to face off against that I think might be a good counter to see how the unit fares. Or I'll choose some forces that the new unit may excel at fighting if I want to try and maximize his or her potential. Once I figure out the size and scope of who the new unit will face, I start picking out some allies for that fight. I often just look at the point cost of my favorite characters to see who I can fit into the army.

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

I started out taking notes by hand as the game went, then typing it up later. After a few tests I decided to just type it out directly into the blank playtest form as I tested and save myself a step. Over half way through the test and I must of hit some button because the page changed and I lost everything. So I returned to taking notes by hand. May eventually give typing it up a go again, but if I do it will be in Word where it is a bit harder to erase with just one hit of a button.

This sounds like me. Back when I playtested Green Goblin, I lost my entire testing sheet. Now I type in Microsoft Word as I go and save very frequently. I have all the playtested I have done in this way saved on my computer.