Tag Archives: Playtesting

Articles, System Hack

System Hack: Dreadship playtest report

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We’ve gone and done it! Just like I threatened, last weekend I had a chance to test run Dreadship at our group’s gaming weekend. The game was certainly fun; I ran Gradient Descent in one-shot mode, with the players as artifact hunters trying to get a big score and retire. As far as Dreadship is concerned, though, the playtest revealed a few things about the game’s workings. Thanks to both my own evaluation and feedback from my players, I know what I’d do differently in the future.

This is one of the first playtests that I’ve run, so I also learned a lot about the process. Most importantly, seeing the process in action is likely to make it easier for me to test new rules and games in the future. So with that all said, how did mashing up Mothership with a Jenga tower actually work?

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: The Cog That Remains

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Mecha, giant robotic weapons of war, fly among the stars and stride across battlefields controlled by pilots – brave, terrified, determined, desperate – who will write the history books with beam fire and missile barrages. That is not my role.

My name is Armand Schole, and I’m the Chief Mechanic aboard the CHS Bern. It’s my job to repair, maintain, and maybe even upgrade a Mecha in-between missions. In doing so, I keep the Mecha in the fight. In doing so, I keep the Pilot alive. At least, that’s the goal.

In reality the supplies are never as plentiful as they should be, the allies not as dependable. I know better than anyone how fragile a Mecha can be. I know that the Pilot is not yet a legend, but an all-too fallible human being. I’ll do the best I can, it’s my job after all, but I’m  all too aware how likely it is that when it comes to this weapon of war I’ll be…

The Cog That Remains.

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A Glimpse Into The Vault, Articles

The Unpublished Network at PAX East 2023

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If you want to catch a tabletop game in one of its more interesting stages, it’s always a good idea to swing by the Unpublished Game Network.  The ‘Unpub’ Network  provides, well, networking for unpublished games that are still in development and at a convention gives them a place to put their game through its paces. It’s notable that the signage says ‘looking for playtesters’ instead of just ‘looking for players.’ While not quite as rich in traditional CHG content as its Unplugged sibling PAX East offers the advantage of being right in my own stomping grounds, and getting to attend its ’23 iteration for all four days meant I was able to swing by the Unpub tables multiple times.

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