Want to Be a Playtester?

We had hoped by now to be seeing all of you wonderful people at summer conventions and playing new Munchkin games and expansions with all our local friends to prepare for the rest of 2020 and the new games coming in 2021.

Obviously, our plans have derailed for almost everything, and we've had to pretty drastically rewrite them all. Right now, there's no telling when we'll be able to have local playtests again or when we'll all get to hang out at a con to try new games. We can't wait forever to start playtesting games again; we have several things that are stalled and need to get moving again if we're going to have a 2021 Munchkin schedule.

With that in mind, we're going to be looking for outside playtest groups who are willing to give us good, quick feedback on upcoming expansions and games. We do have some rules to follow if you want to be part of our expanded playtest group, and these rules are firm; don't ask to be a playtester if you can't agree to them.

1. We aren't playtesting through online gaming. There's no supported Munchkin online gaming software and right now is not the time for us to try to put one together. If you don't have a group that can get together to play, you're not right for this playtest. It sucks and we wish it were different.
2. Your playtest size should be between three and six players, and we'll want to check all of those sizes. If you only have three players, you are definitely not excluded from the process! Kids are welcome to join in if they already have Munchkin playing experience.
3. Right now, we're testing expansions, so please let us know what Munchkin sets your group has to play. We're looking for experienced players for this first round; if half your playtest have no Munchkin experience, you aren't really right for this process. It is possible, perhaps likely, that we'll want to test some full games later this year, in which case priority will go to groups who've already proven their playtest ability with the smaller games.
4. We'll have a deadline for responses on each playtest, and those deadlines will probably be short. It's also very likely that we'll be sending out multiple drafts as we get feedback and make changes. Make sure your playtest group is able to meet regularly and whoever is in charge of supplying feedback does so quickly. (We are willing to look at videos of playtests as an extension of email notes, but those take a lot of time to listen through, so don't plan to use them as your only responses.)
5. Your group will need access to a printer to make the playtest cards. We recommend sleeving all the cards in play, in two different colors, if you have enough cards to do so. If you don't have a way to print and cut apart the cards, you can't playtest the games.
6. If your group is selected, we'll send you a non-disclosure agreement. Everyone in the group will need to fill one out and send it back to us, and we do expect you to honor it – don't share the name of the project you're working on and definitely don't share the actual files outside of the group. We cannot send playtest materials to anyone who hasn't submitted the NDAs.

To sign up, email andrew@sjgames.com with the subject line Munchkin Playtesting 2020. Your email should include the names of everyone in your group and at least one email address we can contact – more is fine. Make sure your initial email also includes all the information asked for above. (Yes, all of this is a test to see who can follow instructions.)

We'll start going over test groups as soon as they start coming in, and hopefully we'll be able to get the process moving by early August, if not before. Groups that give us especially helpful feedback will get credits and our thanks in the rules!