Why You Should Go To A Protospiel
by Dylan Coyle
Your baby is ugly. Your darling is broken. Your dream is draining you of time and money. We understand, because we’re in the same place. If you want to fix that, you need more playtesting. It takes a village to make a game these days, so it makes perfect sense to attend a weekend long playtesting event like a protospiel.
Protospiel is a not-for-profit, decentralized event made by game designers for game designers. You simply show up, play some games, and give and take feedback. It’s like a bootcamp for game designers. Some publishers see it as a rite of passage. You can proudly add ‘tested at Protospiel’ banner to your sell sheets after running the gauntlet.
The last Protospiel was in Cleveland at the local friendly game store Immortals Inc. The store’s staff opened early, closed late, and kept us caffeinated. The store kept a family friendly vibe. Designers brought their partners, parents, and children. Many people showed up as playtesters, excited to spend the weekend gaming and networking.
Near the entrance, there was a table of components and blank cards donated by The Game Crafter. You never know when you get a crazy idea to try or critical piece of feedback to fix. One of the games I tested all weekend with new TGC pieces was born at a different Protospiel in MI on blank cards TGC provided.
Designers at Protospiel events get to show off their creative muscles. In Cleveland, we saw games moving beyond the typical board and cards. Block, by Mat Hanson, was a multidimensional race of magnetic tokens across shifting and rotating metal cubes. Continuum, by Joe Boyden, was a 2-4 player abstract game featuring a couple dozen beautiful sand timers in different colors and times. Quest for Gaia, by Joshua Frye, allowed players to build their own unique alien civilization before finding their own unique path to greatness in a sleek 4x universe. (Bonus points to Joshua for giving away banana shaped spaceship promos!)
While many Protospiel Cleveland attendees were part of Ultimate Team Up, a game group that meets throughout northern Ohio, others drove in from Buffalo, Baltimore, and Knoxville. I flew in from China, ready to make the most of my time in North America. The game design scene in Asia is growing rapidly, but even a small Protospiel in Cleveland has more designers gathering than cities with 20 million people. For now. I’m hoping to attend one or two more Protospiels before flying back.
So if you are working on a game and want to get some quality feedback, definitely find a Protospiel in your area via TGC’s sibling site: https://tabletop.events/protospiel …Maybe see you at the next one?
