Guest Poster Gil Hova is a busy man, which is why we appreciate him taking time out of his schedule to write an article for Games&Grub about his experience(s) at this year's Protospiel in addition to advice for budding designers. If you'd like to keep in touch with Gil, you may do so via his Twitter Account or BGG Page. Likewise, if you'd like to try one of his designs, you can play PROLIX... one of our favorite word games here at G&G.
A guest post by Mr. Gil Hova
Protospiel is a 3-day board game designers’ convention held in Ann Arbor, MI every year. The first Protospiel was held in 2001 by designers Stephen Glenn, Dominic Crapuchettes, and Mike Petty. It is now in the capable hands of designer David Whitcher.
I’ve attended Protospiel for about seven consecutive years now. I’ve seen games brought in (mine included) that were little more than proofs-of-concept, and watched them get bashed into playable prototypes, and then get bashed further into games that are actually fun, that people actually want to play. Of course, these games get attention on the other 362 days of the year, but there’s something special about a three-day convention focused intensively on board game playtesting.
That last bit is important. Protospiel isn’t about dry lectures on important concepts in game design. There will occasionally be a presentation about more practical matters, like how to pitch your game to a publisher, and there are plenty of seasoned game designers and publishers who are happy to share their experience in the industry.
No, Protospiel’s focus is exactly where it should be: playtesting. I’m convinced that the fastest and most effective way to grow as a board game designer is to simply get your games on the table and watch them fail. And Protospiel lets you do just that, for a full weekend.
The atmosphere there is amazing. You don’t get to see such a positive and creative environment in many other places. It’s tough to put the energy in words, but the best I can manage is as a kind of wave I ride along in. It’s because of this energy that I feel the 12-hour drive to Ann Arbor from Jersey City is worth it.
There isn’t much of a schedule at Protospiel. If you want to playtest a game, you simply find a few designers and a table. Of course, if you get your game tested, you should return the favor and playtest other games as well; the event won’t work if you only take and never give!
One thing about the event that has changed over the past few years is the number of attending publishers. In the years I attended the con, there would be maybe one publisher, who may have been there as a guest of honor. This year, quite a few publishers appeared. Mayfair, Elfinworks, Academy Games, and Minion Games are now regular attendees, and there were several new publishers who had a presence as well. This means that a designer can bring a close-to-finished design along with his raw designs, and have a good shot at getting publisher attention.
I always aim to bring three designs to Protospiel. Most years, this is too ambitious, and I only bring a couple. This year, I brought Sword Merchants, a late-stage economic game that I’ve been working on for a few years, and Prime Time, an auction game that I wanted to try with the auction mechanism ripped out. I also brought a game that a friend of mine had designed, because I thought it would be a good fit with one of the publishers there.
Well, I cut the Prime Time playtest after 15 minutes. I could immediately tell that the game wasn’t working. Sword Merchants fared much better; a publisher is interested in the game (though he hasn’t officially committed to it yet), and I’ll be mailing him a copy of the game in a few weeks. I saw a couple of other games get pitched during the convention. Some games found homes, but all of them got good feedback. Unfortunately, the publisher I had in mind for my friend’s game had a lukewarm reaction, but I’m glad I got his game out there.
If you’re a designer interested in getting good feedback on your games, I can’t recommend Protospiel highly enough. If you do attend, I suggest a few things...
- Arrive early and leave late. Maximizing your time at the con will give you many opportunities to playtest.
- Don’t stress component quality. Many designers like to make attractive-looking prototypes, and if that’s what you enjoy, that’s great. But don’t get hung up on it. Unless you’re at a late stage and want to attract playtesters, or if you’re self-publishing and you want to test your graphic design, you’ll be fine with a simple, clean-looking prototype with clear, distinctive graphics.
- Play other prototypes. Not only is this necessary to do to keep the con functional, you’ll learn just as much about game design from other playtests as you will from yours.
- Have thick skin. One of the most annoying things about board game design is that it’s horribly iterative. You won’t be done after your first try. You won’t be done after your fifteenth try. You probably won’t even be done after your fiftieth try. So as a result, you will get a lot of feedback as to why your game isn’t working. If you want people to tell you how brilliant you are, become the CEO of a large corporation.
- Listen to everyone’s feedback. Playtesters have a perspective you don’t.
- Feel free to ignore any feedback. There are all kinds of games out there, and not everyone enjoys them all. You may even get contradictory feedback. Try to get as many points of view as you can, and work out where to go from there.
Protospiel is one of my “must-attend” board game events. It’s become an integral part of board game development for me. I can’t imagine any of my games being anywhere near as polished without it.
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