Gen Con 2023 part 2:
Welcome back! I’ll be continuing my discussion about my GenCon Experience. As a reminder, I listed my goals in going to Gen Con in the last blog:
Have fun
Run how-to-play events for Super Snipers with the dual purpose of showing off the game to current backers and gaining new backers/ spreading the word.
Run Playtests of Dog Days in the First Exposure Playtest Hall. The goal being to see how the game plays with specific audiences and also to start spreading the word.
Network
Playtest the mint tin games I have in development.
Meet all the folks I’ve befriended online over the last 3 and a half years in person.
First Exposure Playtest Hall:
I signed up and paid to do four 2-hour playtests of Dog Days on the Friday of Gen Con. I ran events from 10-2 and then 4-8pm. It’s worth noting that the cost of this was significantly offset by the fact that it essentially comes with a 4-day Pass to the event.
How does FEPH work?
You get 2 hour slots to run your game. Dog Days plays 4 players with a teach in under an hour typically, and I thought that I would have a luxurious amount of time for feedback. What I learned though is that: 1) Your players won’t get sat at your table until at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes after the start time. 2) When changing over to another testing group, you need to finish with enough time for change-over. I was able to play all 4 games to completion with time for feedback, but it was tight!
Before the event, you give the FEPH organizers your demographic requests for your playtesters. They allow you to be as specific as you want (doesn’t mean they can deliver, but they definitely try!). At the start of every two hour block they sort out the playtesters to match with the games. i asked for mixed gender groups, dog owners, and was open to, but did not require, younger kids. They did a great job with getting me mixed gender groups of dog owners!
There were a few manufacturers set up with tables in the hall and I was visited by a few and had some talks about my plans for the game and what they could offer. The GameCrafter table was particularly helpful as I had lost my “Loose Dog” toy during an earlier game and they loaned me an orange dinosaur to stand in!
There was also enough time in-between sessions to check out some of the other games and meet other designers. I got a chance to meet Koltin (Galactic Cruise) and Matthue (Sirens).
Besides the time challenges, the other most difficult part about FEPH was just how loud that room gets! I can’t believe I didn’t lose my voice after 8 hours of running games!
How did Dog Days do?
Great! The overall takeaway I had was that the game is in a really solid place and every single group and player had a great time. The teach and play stayed very close to an hour for every group. There were a couple of things that seemed to trip up players and a couple of game features that were consistently underutilized. I was able to make several adjustments in-between tests and test them out. I also received some truly fantastic suggestions.
I had my teach down pretty good but - like I did with Super Snipers - I changed it up a little so as to not overwhelm my players. I taught the “First Game” and did the basic teach, got everyone through the first turn, and then introduced the Loose Dog. Starting with my second group, I had players not only introduce themselves, but also talk about and show pictures of their dogs. This ended up being a smart move and got everyone in the spirit! At the conclusion of the game, I gave a quick overview of what the full game offered and then took feedback. I had players leave their emails if they were interested in following along or participating in future playtests. I gained 16 emails from the efforts.
Highlights: The best moment by far was with a group chanting “double poop!” while banging on the table as they cheered on one of the players who had a chance to score two dogs in one turn! One player also said my game was like “Scythe with Dogs” which, while not accurate, was a very big compliment!
What I did well: The teach adjustments, having players talk about their dogs, chatting up other designers, and making adjustments between games were all very helpful in getting the most out of this experience.
What I would change: I will never again schedule all 8 hours in a single day. That was nuts!!
What FEPH is good for: Unlike the events, this is a great opportunity for focused playtesting with your target audience. It’s also okay for exposure as you not only connect with players, but plenty of passerbys. I gave the elevator pitch for my game to dozens of non-players who walked by.
Well, that will do it for this week. I’ll try to finish it up in the next blog. Thanks for reading! Please consider subscribing to follow along!
Galen.
