A Plethora Of Playtests

Developing games is a funny business. Sometimes, you go long stretches where it's just you and the computer with naught but a latte for company. And lattes aren't known for being great conversationalists.

And then, all of a sudden, you realize you have a bunch of things that need to be playtested NOW so they can be put on a schedule and sold to all those friendly gamers out there.

It's one of those active playtest times right now. We have two standalone Munchkin games being playtested, both SJ designs. One is so super-secret that I can't even talk to you about it unless you've signed our new NDA form, which almost none of you have. The other has been in development for a while and we're pretty sure it works . . . but not quite certain yet, so we're going to play it a few more times.

I recently wrote a 30-card booster that just started playtest last week. It's different from anything we've done before and I'm looking forward to hearing players' reactions to it! I've got another one about two-thirds done and I'm pretty sure every true Munchkin fan is going to want to shuffle this one into their decks. If I'm wrong, the playtesters will be sure to let me know!

Steve has turned over a draft of another Munchkin project that's so far ahead, it's not even on the master schedule yet . . . and our schedule goes through the end of 2018. I know he's excited about getting this into playtest as soon as we can free up a little time.

Devin is working hard on more cards for the Collectible Card Game, and I'm hoping we'll ramp up that playtesting machine again very soon, too.

Speaking of Devin, if you want to be notified whenever we schedule a playtest, shoot him a note at devin@sjgames.com and he can add you to our list. The vast majority of our playtests happen in or near Austin, but I won't say that we never take our show on the road. Just . . . rarely.

Memorial Day

If you're reading this on the day it's posted (Monday, May 29, 2017), be aware that our office is closed today and no one is around to answer phones or reply to email. We'll all be back tomorrow.