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Found a company that Play-Test Board Games.

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imagonized
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I was just surfing around and found a studio that does Board Games prototype testing. I hope it can help with Play-Testing board as they also have legal NDA signups to keep the designers game secure, found it when i read their FAQ's. I feel i should try their services once.

sharing its link with you guys. http://dreamarcadestudios.com/

jonathanflike
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Hmmm...

Not sure I trust someone to proofread my game and rule book when their website hasn't been given the company's own treatment.

questccg
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Don't look for another service...

We already have access to Coalition Game Studio:

http://coalitiongames.com/rates.html

They do an in-depth playthrough of games and have rates to suit each and every person's budget.

Take a look. And compare... Cheers.

imagonized
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reply

what do you mean by company's own treatment ?

imagonized
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yes

questccg wrote:
We already have access to Coalition Game Studio:

http://coalitiongames.com/rates.html

They do an in-depth playthrough of games and have rates to suit each and every person's budget.

Take a look. And compare... Cheers.

I asked out for a quote and they have like 2 plans. One is for 10 hours $199 USD of playtesting and second one is like 20 hours $399 USD. i compared and i saw dreamarcade on is cheaper in that case and they also do legalizations before playtesting so its also safer in that case.

jonathanflike
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Grammar check

imagonized wrote:
what do you mean by company's own treatment ?

The website is littered with grammatical issues and it is unfinished. My favorite part of it is the "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip." that seems to repeat on a few of the articles that I assume meant to be taken down off the blog but weren't. Also, the LinkedIn link takes you to the website. So I am saying that if this company wants to proof-read and polish other people's work, they should spend the same time and effort on their own website. If I want to contact the website and fill out the contact form, there is a field that says "Comapany Name." For $49.99/hr I am willing to do website consulting for this consulting company.

Best,
-Jonathan Flike

questccg
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Secondly it's in INDIA!

No offense - but I'm not going to send my prototype to a company in India when there are services available in the USA. Same reason that I use The Game Crafter (TGC) for prototypes. I help support "Made in the USA".

The other thing is that you DON'T need an NDA. This is people who are too paranoid about their designs that require an NDA...

Pricing might be less expensive - but I'm would not want to deal with India with my own prototypes or design ideas.

Personally "cheaper" is relative to what you get. $199 USD is the same I payed for a playthrough video... Coalition can get you in-depth reports and comments from playtesters after they've had a chance to actually sit down and play your game...

And if I have to MAIL my prototype to someplace in India -- I don't care if you have an NDA -- what are you going to do, sue some poor indian people if they steal your game idea??? The NDA is probably not even enforceable across nations...!

ddiaz28
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questccg wrote:No offense -

questccg wrote:
No offense - but I'm not going to send my prototype to a company in India when there are services available in the USA. Same reason that I use The Game Crafter (TGC) for prototypes. I help support "Made in the USA".

I agree with all that quest said. I would also think there is a lot of value in testing your game in the market you will eventually be selling the majority of your games to, which probably isn't India. There is quite a cultural difference between India and North America or Europe and you might get quite different feedback due to those differences.

Jonathan makes a very valid point as well regarding the English on the site. If this is a serious endeavor, the website content should reflect that to it's potential clients.

I would also want to see what kind of games they have already playtested to know what kind of service I would be getting. I"m in the process of playtesting my game and I would definitely not take a chance with this company especially when there are other options.

FrankM
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NDA is an alternate spelling of "security blanket"

It may not make much sense for a US-based designer to ship a prototype to India, but someone based in India might find it useful. Assuming, of course, that they clean up the Lorem Ipsum on their website.

And I get the feeling that these firms enter into an NDA simply to make the designer/inventor feel better, in which case it doesn't really matter if it's enforceable or not.

questccg
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Missing the point

FrankM wrote:
...And I get the feeling that these firms enter into an NDA simply to make the designer/inventor feel better, in which case it doesn't really matter if it's enforceable or not.

But isn't that the IMPORTANT part??? Knowing that the NDA does guarantee that your prototype game is protected from copying?! If not, I may feel good but my Indian counterparts are going to feel a whole lot better when they can produce or copy my game.

It's kind of a service for "ignorant" people. Only kids think like this: "Okay they say they will sign an NDA - okay so that means I'm protected."

Nothing in International Law and signing TWO (2) NDAs one using American legislation and another one using Indian legislation. I didn't dig deep into the matter... But from what I glanced upon, you need two (2) NDAs, an NDA for each "market".

Anyway this is all legal-ese ... A lawyer could inform you of your rights given a sample of their NDA that they agree to sign and uphold.

Assuming protection (again) is kids thinking they are safe "because they signed an NDA." If you want to USE this service, I would speak to a lawyer FIRST and ask if you are at all protected. IF you are and there are no loop-holes ... Well then maybe you could be "stup..", I mean send a prototype from the USA all the way to India to have your game playtested.

I personally would not. But that's my opinion.

lewpuls
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Fundamental unbeliever

I'm not going to say it's impossible, but I cannot think that these services are worth the money, not even close. But it depends on your circumstances.

Anyone can set themselves up as a playtest service, that doesn't mean their testing will be worth much. If you live "way out in the country" somewhere you may not be able to find testers, but in most of the USA and Britain, at least, you can find them if you work at it. Listen to my https://youtu.be/hPRw_Rmc028 (Where to Find Playtesters) at least.

At 10 hours for $199, you'd make more doing playtesting than you would designing games.

pelle
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This is for publishers, not

This is for publishers, not designers, obviously, to finalise a game before sending it to the printers. Probably not self-publishers either. $199 is way over what I would expect (not hope) to make in profits on a new game, considering that most games we all design end up not being published at all (not accepted by publishers or failed kickstaters). Many fantastic free playtesters out there that want to test your game if it is interesting enough.

(If you find it difficult to find several groups of testers enthusiastic enough about your game to playtest it for free that might be useful feedback in itself.)

I worry that there is a trend with companies profiting from designers being increasingly desperate to publish games on a crowded market and believing throwing their personal savings at various services to make way too polished prototypes etc that is not really what they need anyway. The same game with a few minor rules fixed is not going to be what makes a publisher (or kickstart backers) suddenly go crazy about a game they previously thought would not be any fun to play.

Plus how do you even know what genres of games they are truly experts in compared to some people you can find here or on the bgg forums?

ddiaz28
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I'm really not sure who would

I'm really not sure who would really need this service enough to bother shipping prototypes all the way to India. Even if it was here in North America, I'm not sure who would use it. I guess if you know you've got a fun, working prototype and really want to put it through it's paces with a lot of blind playtesting in a short amount of time, then maybe a service like this would help. But for me, there are enough free ways of playtesting here in Toronto that paying that much for it would never cross my mind. Sure it's going to take me longer but I'm willing to put in the time. Plus I really enjoy the experience of playtesting my game. I just had a great time on Monday at Snakes & Lattes' designer night and I'm really looking forward to testing it at Breakout in March.

kargov
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Joined: 01/16/2018
Have any of you tried

Have any of you tried recruiting playtesters online (i.e.: Board Game Geek) and providing them with printable prototypes? I believe Gloomhaven did this with success, no? Seems like a good way to involve people while receiving free playtesting. Though, part of me wonders who would be willing to spend so much time to go about mocking up a printable prototype to play the game.

Coalition Games looks great for my needs. I've read through nearly their entire website and it seems to provide data far beyond playtesting, with input from numerous game designers as well. Good to have objective feedback from game professionals who spends [relatively] ample time with your game. Thank you for the suggestion.

ddiaz28 wrote:
I'm really not sure who would really need this service enough to bother shipping prototypes all the way to India. Even if it was here in North America, I'm not sure who would use it. I guess if you know you've got a fun, working prototype and really want to put it through it's paces with a lot of blind playtesting in a short amount of time, then maybe a service like this would help. But for me, there are enough free ways of playtesting here in Toronto that paying that much for it would never cross my mind. Sure it's going to take me longer but I'm willing to put in the time. Plus I really enjoy the experience of playtesting my game. I just had a great time on Monday at Snakes & Lattes' designer night and I'm really looking forward to testing it at Breakout in March.

I'm nearabouts Toronto. I know BoardGameBliss in Scarborough has monthly designer days. Any other recommendations?

let-off studios
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Game Smiths Playtesting

I just wanted to give a shout out to Game Smiths Playtesting based in Colorado, USA. I've had two different designs reviewed and documented by them, and in each case the development of the game has experienced a quantum shift in progress. The videos they provide are invaluable to the process of refining your design.

I found the price exceptionally well worth what came of it. Of course your mileage may vary, but I think their quality is excellent.

https://www.facebook.com/GamesSmithsPlaytesting/

questccg
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Pricing?!

let-off studios wrote:
I just wanted to give a shout out to Game Smiths Playtesting based in Colorado, USA...

https://www.facebook.com/GamesSmithsPlaytesting/

Hello @Let-Off I spoke with @Tyson when he was just starting his services and we "talked" (messaged) a bit concerning payment for re-shipping prototypes and not being required to print & cut PNP productions...

Do you mind PM-ing the pricing??? Could not find anything related to it on the FB page. If it's confidential well then just say so... And I'll contact @Tyson myself.

Many thanks.

ddiaz28
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kargov wrote:I'm nearabouts

kargov wrote:
I'm nearabouts Toronto. I know BoardGameBliss in Scarborough has monthly designer days. Any other recommendations?

As I previously mentioned Snakes and Lattes has their designer night every month. 401 Games does one as well but it's smaller from what I've heard. For a larger event check out Proto T.O. in the fall. I went to the last one and it was great. I believe there will be playtesting events at Breakout in March as well. I'm really looking forward to that. Lastly you can always bring prototypes to the gaming room at Fan Expo. I watched Jon Gilmour testing one of his games there. Really nice guy.

let-off studios
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Prototype Returns

questccg wrote:
Do you mind PM-ing the pricing??? Could not find anything related to it on the FB page. If it's confidential well then just say so... And I'll contact @Tyson myself.
You'll want to contact him directly. I was informed that they do not normally return prototypes, and that if it's requested they will charge a fee (unspecified, from what I know) for that service.

I wouldn't anticipate anything other than a realistic figure. In my experience their team seems on-point, communicative, and reasonable in all other areas.

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