Creating Chopping Block

Chopping Block was the fruit of a educational mini game jam in 2021 at LTU (Luleås Tekniska Universitet). Back then it was called "Headsman" but featured the same type of cards and gameplay.

Playtesting of Chopping Block

What? Playtest? Why would you want to do that?

Good Question! I have to confess that originally I just thought we would go to one or two more people, see if they liked the game and that would be that...

Oh! How wrong I was! 

During this spring I have come to learn the important process of playtesting by participating in both bigger conventions, such as GothCon, and meeting up with other game creators. 

I have also come to learn that playtesting A LOT is very important if you want people to play the game you designed rather than a misunderstood copy of what your idea has been.

So, What do I need to playtest a game?

Well, that depends on what kind of game you are creating and in what stage you are in the process. But my advice is to make it as simple as possible and not wait too long before you let people playtest your game. 

For us it meant the following:

• Digitize all cards, print them in two sets and put them into plastic pockets.
• Get some bags and tokens that can fit for now, some of which we already had at home.
• Create the essence of what we want the finished product to look like by getting a miniature chopping block in birchwood. 
• Create a feedback form and e-mail sign up list. 
• Decide on what your focus will be during every playtest to get the best feedback possible.

The simpler the better. We didn't want to take the design too far yet, because we first wanted to see what the playtesters thought of the mechanics of the game during the playtesting. 

Where do I find people crazy enough that want to playtest?

We reached out to game stores and also went to bigger conventions where they have rooms dedicated for testing game prototypes. People like to try out and give feedback to games not yet available (believe it or not!), and as long as you put yourself out there people will come and have a good time with your game!

Something we struggled with in the beginning was not to play the game ourselves and being a little too helpful with the rules. But we still got really good feedback which we now have implemented into the game. A lot of the things that come up during playtests are things we would not have realized ourselfs. 

Other than that we also invited friends over, both irl and on Steam Tabletop Simulator, to have a go at Chopping Block and give us some feedback. It has been nice because they have all tried the game in different epochs and get positively surprised on the changes made. We take that as a sign that we are heading in the right direction with the development of Chopping Block.

So when will you be done with the playtesting? 

We have come to learn that playtesting is crucial both for the marketing of the game but also to fully understand what parts we have to work more with before we are somewhat done. 

We have also come to realize that we will probably never be DONE with playtesting, just happy enough for now. As with a lot of other games we have played there will always be some things that do not make sense afterwards, no matter how many times we playtest.

But after having about 50 people playtest Chopping Block during spring, we have the last event next Saturday (11/6) at Nexus in Växjö between 12-16 (swing by if you are in the area!). Then the plan is to make bigger changes to the design and get some 2.0 prototypes and then continue playtesting....

Thanks to everyone who has participated during this spring! 

/Karina