Friday, July 18, 2014

Playtesting at The Gaming Goat

Last night (well, I guess two nights ago since it's now after midnight) I went to The Gaming Goat, a local game store here in DeKalb, and broke out Polter-Heist and Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia.  This was the first time testing Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia with anyone outside my family and the first time testing Polter-Heist with strangers.  every other time I've played Polter-Heist it's been with friends.  So I was very happy that both games seemed to go over extremely well.

Everyone loved Polter-Heist as usual and since this was a group of gamers I was happy that they enjoyed it as much as friends and family have.  We only played a four player game because most of the people in the store were busy with MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or whatever CCD they were engrossed in, but as we got into the game we gradually started attracting spectators.  The game played out very nicely.  No one turned into a ghost, although it was very close a few times for a few players.  And we all did make it out alive with the Treasure, but it was a ton of fun and I've been invited back to have people play it again.

I also played two games of Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia with two different people.  I was a little nervous about that one because it hasn't been playtested quite as much and strategy type games can be challenging to get right.  But both players liked the game a lot.  The players liked the choices between the different cubes, the tactile feel of the game, and the strategy behind capturing opponents' cubes.  I'm still anxious to try out a four player game of this, but knowing it went over well with gamers was a huge boost to my confidence in the game.  Oh, and I've carved and painted the mountain tiles now, too, so that added just a little bit more flair to the game.

I don't know if I've mentioned in my posts on Facebook, but I will be submitting both games to separate contests at the end of the month.  Polter-Heist will be entered in an international contest for games that can be played in an hour or less (with a monetary prize for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, but not necessarily a contract to print the game).  Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia will be entered in a US contest for a game that can be played by one or more players, can fit on a desktop (like in an office), is visually interesting, and fits the theme patterns.  That contest has not only a monetary prize, but also a promise to produce the game, sell it exclusively in a US chain store, and 5% royalties on all sales.  With the response I've gotten for both games I am super excited about both games in their respective contests!  So wish me luck!

The end of the first game of Peacekeepers.  You can see the newly carved and painted mountain tiles.
I lost this game by quite a bit, but redeemed myself later in the evening.

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