November 29th, 2020

I've been working a lot on playtesting for our current project, Z's Revenge over the last month. I've had several digital playtests accomplished through Tabletop Simulator on Steam as well as our very first physical beta playtest at our local game store this last Sunday. I've been pleasantly surprised by these sessions for they seem to be going quite well. 

What  exactly  do  I  mean  by  that? ​

These sessions have been the first time the game has been introduced and played by complete strangers to me. Of course, I've personally tested the game dozens of times and have had many hours of playtests with my personal friends and family, but that's different. When showing personal friends and family something you've created there's a level of dishonesty that sometimes comes with it. You're friends and family tend to not want to hurt your feelings because they like you and care for you. This means that they may not truly tell you how they feel about this thing that you've worked so hard on. 

An awful photo of my buddy Jay helping me with some random testing.

Strangers  are  more  likely  to  tell  you  the  truth

This is one of the reasons that beta testing and blind playtesting are so important. You're more likely to get unbiased feedback from individuals who don't have anything invested in you or whatever it is your asking their opinion on. 

This is why I've been pleasantly surprised. The individuals within the sessions all seem to have enjoyed playing the game. This, and they've had incredible feedback for improvements that I hadn't thought of before. This means the world to me! It's a tremendous confidence booster and reinforcer for all my hard work. You might be able to imagine how hard it is to take something that you've poured so much time and energy into and reveal it to people, knowing that their impression and opinion on it are extremely important. 

Our first live playtest! So much fun!

You  don't  know  unless  you  ask

I've had quite a bit of anxiety and doubt surrounding the game and my work on it. Is it actually any fun? Is the art absolute crap? What if no one likes it? What if all this time and energy is for nothing? These doubts I know are normal, but it doesn't make them go away. 

How  do  you  get  affirmation ?
Ask  strangers  for  it

Apparently one way to help with these feelings of doubt is to ask strangers about the content that's causing them. Maybe they can lend a perspective you haven't seen by yourself. Maybe they have advice that can help you with the feelings. Maybe you're wrong. You never know.. 

Playtesting has been fun and I think It's going well. Every test is one step closer to completion of the game. Everyday it's getting more succinct and more fun. There's not much more we can ask for. Well, of course there is. Getting the game completed and to a place that we believe will be a great addition to the world is one thing. Getting a following of people to believe this with us and support us in the endeavor is another. If you're passionate about supporting this project and want to know how you can help, feel free to reach out. There's plenty of work to do and many things big and small that I could use help with.

Playtesting will continue and each day Z's Revenge is getting closer and closer to being something fantastic! We want to create the best version of Z's. That's why this process is so important and not to be rushed. Thanks for being a part of this!

​ - The Dead Lemon

If you have steam and want to check out the working prototype of Z's Revenge all you need is Tabletop Simulator for Steam. Then you can access the workshop and find the game there. It's being updated as quickly as I can with changes. If you find it and play around with it please feel free to leave any feedback or comments in the section on the workshop page for it. Thanks!