Playtesting with Aftergame

Whatever state your game is in (prototype, pre-published, recently published) you can add it to Aftergame which will allow you to schedule playtests and demos that people can sign up for in advance, either within larger events you’re attending, like conventions, or anytime. Aftergame distinguishes between playtests, demos and learn-to-play games so players will always know what they’re signing up for.

How to get the most out of Aftergame:

1. Track the stats you want
   • When you submit your game, you can add as many or as few details as you like and relevant fields will show up when you log a play of your game. For example, if you have different factions and there are multiple ways for the game to end, when logging a play, each player can be assigned a faction and the end game trigger can be selected. When viewing the aggregate stats, you’ll start to get a picture of what is working and what might need to be tweaked.
2. Schedule games to get it played as many times as you need
   • Scheduled games at a convention will show up in the big list of games happening throughout the convention to give you more visibility and put you in front of people who may not have thought to try playtesting before. You can plan as many games as you like ahead of time so people can get excited about trying your game and add more games on the day as needed.
3. Invite people to play again
   • If someone joins one of your planned games, you’ll be connected and can invite them to future games. Maybe you’ve reiterated and want to hear from someone who can do an A/B comparison, maybe you liked their depth of feedback, maybe you just want to try a new game, you can invite them to play.
4. Get notes later with shared game logs
   • Once you’ve finished the test and the play is logged (you can add notes specific to this game in the notes section if you like), it will show up in each player’s logs and anyone who was a part of that game can edit it. That means that if one of the players has a revelation about the turn structure three days after the playtest, they can go back to the play log and edit the notes section to include their revelation. You’ll be notified that the log was edited and can go see what they had to say.

How to submit your game

Download Aftergame from the app stores or use the link on the website.

From anywhere in the Aftergame app, tap Profile > ≡ > Are we missing a game?

This will take you through to a google form where you can submit your game. The more detail you include, the more thoroughly your game will be shown in the app.

Here’s a shortcut to the google form so you can fill it in on a computer instead of a phone: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwPsigvgnrqCgzV0Fn2Iy06G7qMlN8HKdhYJU71k-5147O9A/viewform