We welcome testers and designers of all experience levels, so while this is a lot of info to read, the main thing is to show up and be cool. If in doubt, just ask!
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If you’re testing games, it’s inevitable (and desired) to find issues and give criticism. It’s also very likely that you’ll find collaborators, get inspirations, and feed off of useful suggestions. It’s not always the easiest to navigate some of these interactions, especially with people you don’t know well. With all this in mind, we have some general guidelines on how to approach these sorts of things.
The two guiding principles of New Haven Game Makers Guild are to put in more than you take out, and to not be a jerk.
Be generous and humble. We’re all here to help one another create the coolest projects. Lift each other up and be proud of all the rad work getting done by our members! We all share in the joy of seeing our members succeed.
Plan to spend more time testing other member’s games than your own. Don’t be shy about asking people to test your stuff, but don’t just show up and demand all the attention. This is especially true for newer members. Helping other designers is the best way to get them to want to help you. You’ll also find that the more you help others, the better you’ll be able to critique your own work.
Business Business
Everyone 100% owns whatever they bring to show us. Full stop. It doesn’t matter how much advice or help you give, it is the intellectual property of whoever brings it to show the group.
No one is under any obligation to take you on as any sort of dev/design/whatever role, no matter what critiques and suggestions you may have offered.
If someone wants a co-designer or other collaborator to join an existing project they will ask. Please be very very careful about asking someone to bring you on in a creative role and only do so in rare and specific circumstances. “I really love what you’ve got going on here and would be interested in collaboration if you’re interested” is fine, “I gave you a bunch of feedback, so I should be on the project” is very much not. If in doubt, err on the side of caution and don’t expect anything.
What about random concepts that come up in group conversations? If there is something you’d like to explore further, just ask the group. Maybe no one else cares to try. Maybe someone else would love to work together on it. Have a conversation and be proactive!
Ideas are cheap. Execution is 99% of game design. No one wants to steal your random concept, and it probably wasn’t that original anyway. (Hard truths!)
Feedback Etiquette
You are giving an opinion. No matter how strongly you believe something about
Designers will have their own goals for what they want out of a playtest, be respectful of that. Be proactive in asking them questions to help shape the feedback you give. “What are your goals for this playtest?” is a great thing to ask before you start playing if the designer didn’t already tell you.
Don’t interrupt a game in progress to talk about your thoughts unless the designer has asked you to. Take a note if you need to so you can bring it up at the end. It’s especially bad form to make sweeping pronouncements after playing something for just a few minutes and without the context of a full game. Let the game get played, then give the sort of feedback the designer is looking for.
Not everyone wants to hear everything you might want to say about a design. Follow their lead and the questions they are asking. Speak less rather than more. Don’t dominate the conversation.“What are your design goals?” is an incredibly useful question to start with when it’s time to give feedback.
If you are giving feedback, the designer can stop you, redirect the conversation, or just say things are finished. If they don’t want to hear more, then stop trying to make them. Sometimes you’ll just never agree on something and it’s on you, the playtester, to not try and force your opinions on anyone else.
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If you haven’t yet, go read our Harassment & Safe Space policy.
Check out the links on our resources page for more info on playtesting theory & practice too.