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Playtest UK Games Meetup Group

5,132 members · Public group

Organized by Rob Harris and 58 others

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What we’re about

We are a friendly group of board/card game designers and playtesters set up in London in 2009. We meet to play games and each other's design prototypes.
Everyone is welcome to join us and bring along their own designs or settle down to play and give their opinion. Ever designed a game and wanted to see how it plays? Enjoy playing games and being creative? Do you know what makes a game fun? Don't leave your game ideas sitting on the shelf gathering dust; show them off at the next Playtest meetup and get feedback direct from the players. We look forward to welcoming you at the next meetup!
We have regular playtesting meetups across the country in London, Cambridge, Newcastle, Brighton, Cardiff, Leeds, Enfield, Bath, Norwich, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Cornwall, Oxford, Dundee, Oxford, Southampton and SE London.
We host public playtesting at UK Games Expo, Dragonmeet, Essen, London Toy Fair and a few other events during the year. We also run game jams and designer/publisher speed dating events throughout the year.

Please see our listings for details of dates and times. There is a monthly group newsletter.

Upcoming events (4+)

Fri, Nov 15, 2024, 10:00 AM GMTLondon daytime testing at Waterloo
National Theatre, London
We playtest all sorts of games - strategic, silly, creative, or whatever. Some games are almost done. Some are very early ideas. We test anything that will fit into 90 minutes.

You don't need to bring a game - we always love to have new playtesters!

Please let us know in the comments when you plan to arrive/leave and whether you are bringing a game or not. This helps us to plan the day better.

The schedule is:

10am onwards - gathering, chatting
11am sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 1')
12:30ish - break for food/chat
1pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 2')
2:30ish - break for food/chat
3pm sharp - playing for 90 min ('slot 3')
4:30ish - finish up
Often, we might hang around afterwards, to play some already-published games.

We are strict on timings, so please try to arrive a few minutes before the session to limit disruption.

You can just come for part of the day if you wish. The reason we have fixed timings for the 3 'slots' is to make it easier for folk to do so.

Designers of all levels of experience are welcome! But if it's your first time, we ask that you don't bring a game and just spend some time learning how the group works.

The group works based on reciprocation. If you expect to test your own game, make sure stay for long enough to play other games. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect to play one of your own games every third 90-minute session. So if you stay a whole day (3 sessions), you can expect to have one session to play your game(s).

Pre-covid, we were getting unmanageable. As a result, we may have to limit attendees. This is a free-to-use venue, and we have to be mindful that other folk want to use the same space.

We look forward to seeing you!
13 attendees+8
Sat, Nov 16, 2024, 12:00 PM GMTSheffield Playtest Meetup
Patriot Games, Sheffield
Bring along your prototypes to try out or just come along to see what other people are working on and help them test their games.

Just ask at the counter when you arrive and they'll point you in the right direction.

https://patriotgames.uk/
1 attendee
Sun, Nov 17, 2024, 1:00 PM GMTLondon Playtest weekend meetup
Jugged Hare Pub (meet UPSTAIRS table), London
If you've designed a game, bring it along and give it a play or just enjoy playing other people's prototypes in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.

If you would like to bring along a new design, contact Rob Harris (Organiser) and we will add your game to the list.

Deadline for pre-registering games is 11:59pm on the Friday before. Be sure to include the name of the game, a brief description of the gameplay, the expected duration and the amount of players.

[name] [description] [duration] [amount of players]

If you bring more than one design, add a preference for which one you would like to show first. Please feel free to still bring extra prototypes on the day. They will be added to later playtesting rounds.

(Please note that as a condition of our use of the Jugged Hare, only food and drink bought at the pub can be consumed on the premises.)

Here is the list of prototypes to be playtested: tbc

You can follow the group's blog at http://www.playtest.co.uk

We also have a guild page on BGG: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1398
4 attendees
Sun, Nov 17, 2024, 2:00 PM GMTFalmouth Playtest group
The Moth & The Moon, Falmouth
Everyone's invited to play at The Moth and the Moon in Falmouth, Cornwall. The event is completely free to attend!

Anybody and everybody is welcome! You don't need to be a seasoned designer - you don't even need to have a game. You just need a positive attitude and a willingness to help make these games better.
Thanks to the Moth and the Moon for letting us use a table! Please be respectful of the space.

Designers: Feel free to bring games that are in any stage of development. They don't need to be super-fancy and in fact it is better if they are quite rough - that makes it easier to make changes. Be aware that long games might not get played to completion - you might only need a couple of rounds to see where development needs to occur. Please make sure you also help test other games.
Players: Relax and play some games. Designers will likely ask you for feedback on them and will give direction on what specific kind of feedback they want. Be aware that games will likely be unbalanced, a bit wonky, but that helping make them better is half the fun.
3 attendees

Past events (3989)

Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 6:30 PM GMTPlaytest UK Brighton
This event has passed
2 attendees

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