Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another board game design brain dump. We’re in the heart of the “Ber” season (months ending in BER), so I’ve been focused primarily on writing, but I’ve got a few ideas for board game design, specifically the different modes a game designer can enter whenever they playtest, develop, and design.

Several months ago, I shared Spill the Beans with one of many board game design groups. As they played the game, the members kept thinking of ways to make the game more complex, add more design space. While this was well-meaning, it wasn’t what I wanted or even needed for Spill the Beans. I had progressed the design to a point where I didn’t want to add anything or explore different directions for the design; I was looking for things to refine or take away. Don’t get me wrong. I intend to use some of the ideas mentioned during that Spill the Beans playtest session in a future design, one that could use more fleshing out. This experience led me to think about the various types of playtesting and the roles designers and playtesters assume during these playtest sessions.

Explorer Mode

During an Explorer Mode playtest, the game designer and playtesters are looking for new mechanisms, thematic ideas, and component choices for the game playtested. Many playtest sessions fall under the Explorer Mode. Most, if not every, new game begins in Explorer Mode, and even if a game were to progress to a future mode, they have a chance of returning to Explorer Mode, especially if a game mechanism or two doesn’t quite work. You may have to find alternatives.

Playtesters during the session I mentioned in the opening of Spill the Beans confused the type of session I wanted to have with an Explorer Mode playtest. We’ll get to the playtest mode I thought we were going to have soon enough, but not knowing what playtest type you’re running hurts the designer and the playtesters. I received a ton of great ideas during this session. In an Explorer Mode playtest, that’s amazing. These playtest sessions are asking, What is possible?

You won’t be able to execute every idea in an Explorer Mode playtest, but try out as many of the ideas that sound like they should work together. After all, you’re exploring. You don’t yet know what you want your game to be.

Judge Mode

A Judge Mode playtest has the designer making decisions about which of the options are best by comparing and contrasting mechanism combinations. During this playtest phase, you may even have multiple prototypes, featuring these combos. While you’re in Judge Mode, you’ll be asking, Which approach is better?

A good example of a Judge Mode playtest in action was when I switched Rustbucket Riots from a dice rolling, dice placement game to a bag building, token placement game. For several months, I kept the old version of Rustbucket Riots to see which variant I thought worked best. Which game on-boarded players quicker? Which game was easier to teach? Which one minimized luck? Did I even want to minimize luck? And so on.

But you don’t need to have multiple prototypes of the same game. You can also chose a published game–preferably one the playtesters have played–that is similar enough to your game, or a game that provides a similar experience. After playing your game, you can ask the playtesters if your game scratches a similar itch.

Builder Mode

In Builder Mode, you’ll incorporate all the best ideas from earlier tests (and prototypes) and stress test them. The builder is trying to make the game path you’ve chosen the strongest it can be. Unlike the previous two modes, you’re not interested in alternatives to your design. This is where I was with Spill the Beans. My playtesters during that session didn’t know that I was in Builder Mode because I didn’t know I was in that mode. I had to examine how I playtested game designs. The Builder Mode asks, What happens if I commit to one direction?

How can I maximize the fun? Is there an exploitable strategy that can win almost every game? And so on. During this mode, you might still take notes of possible avenues, which could send you back a mode or two, but for the most part, you’ve made your game design choices.

Inspector Mode

During Inspector Mode you’ll refine your work, removing rough edges, and balancing the game. This is where the game goes from being “good” to “excellent.” Hopefully.

Once you reach the Inspector Mode, you should know exactly what you want your game to be. You’re trying to make your game the best it can be.

So, those are my thoughts on the various types of playtests and how to use them. Now that I’ve gotten a good handle on what I’m doing, I may be able to better let my playtesters know what I’m looking for with feedback. The question, “What did you think,” doesn’t help with feedback. And I was guilty of asking that question after that playtest of Spill the Beans. Hopefully, this list will help other game designers ask the right questions and get better feedback.

Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.