Playtesting Methods That Actually Improve Your Game

A blank form you print before a session and fill in with a pen while someone plays your game, so you leave with notes you can act on tonight.

This article is the sheet itself, a different slice from post 187, which covers how to run a playtest; here you get only the blank one-page form you fill in during a session and a short note on each box.

Post 187 already explains why you test, how to recruit a friend, why you stay quiet, and how to sort notes afterward. None of that is repeated here. If you have not read it, read it first. Then come back, print this page, and keep a pen ready.

Why one page

During a session you have very little attention to spare. You are watching hands, the screen, and a face, all at once. A long form makes you look down too often and miss the moment that mattered.

One page forces you to write only what you will use. It also makes sessions easy to compare. When every tester gets the same sheet, you can lay the pages side by side and see where the same row fills up.

How to use it

• Print one sheet per tester, per session. Never reuse a sheet for a second person.
• Fill the top block before the tester sits down.
• Fill the task rows while they play. Short words are fine. You will be the only reader.
• Fill the bottom block right after they leave, before you talk to anyone or open your editor.
• Clip the sheets together by date.

Use a pen, not a laptop. Typing is loud, it pulls your eyes off the player, and a tester who hears constant typing starts to feel watched.

The sheet

Copy everything inside the box below into a document, set it to fit one page, and print it. Leave the blank lines long enough to write on by hand.

PLAYTEST NOTES                                     Sheet ___ of ___

Date: ______________   Build / version: ______________
Tester (first name or initials): ______________
Has played this game before?   [ ] No   [ ] Yes, build: ________
How we ran it:   [ ] In person   [ ] Call with screen share
Recording?   [ ] No   [ ] Yes, they agreed
The one question this session answers:
________________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------
TASKS (fill during play)

#1  Task: _____________________________________________________
    Start time: ______   End time: ______
    Finished?   [ ] Yes   [ ] Yes, with a hint   [ ] No
    Where they stopped or got stuck:
    ____________________________________________________________
    What they asked out loud:
    ____________________________________________________________

#2  Task: _____________________________________________________
    Start time: ______   End time: ______
    Finished?   [ ] Yes   [ ] Yes, with a hint   [ ] No
    Where they stopped or got stuck:
    ____________________________________________________________
    What they asked out loud:
    ____________________________________________________________

#3  Task: _____________________________________________________
    Start time: ______   End time: ______
    Finished?   [ ] Yes   [ ] Yes, with a hint   [ ] No
    Where they stopped or got stuck:
    ____________________________________________________________
    What they asked out loud:
    ____________________________________________________________

#4  Task: Play until you feel like stopping.
    Start time: ______   Stop time: ______
    Where they chose to stop, and what was happening:
    ____________________________________________________________

Hints I gave (when, and what I said):
________________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER THEY LEAVE (fill before you open the editor)

Quote (one line the tester said, word for word):
"_______________________________________________________________"

Biggest blocker I saw: _________________________________________

One change I will try before the next session:
________________________________________________________________

Next tester should be someone who:   [ ] Has never played
                                     [ ] Played this build

That is the whole sheet. Everything below explains how to fill each part.

The top block

Date and build. Write the build before the session, not after. When you compare sheets later, a note is only useful if you know which version it described.

Tester. A first name or initials is enough. You need to tell sheets apart, not build a contact list. Keep anything more personal off the page.

Played before. Someone who has seen an earlier build already knows things a new player would not. This box stops you from mixing first impressions with return visits.

How you ran it, and recording. Tick the recording box only after you have asked and they have said yes.

The one question. Copy it from your plan. If you cannot fit it on one line, the question is too broad. Narrow it before the tester arrives.

The task rows

Task. Write each task before the session, in the same plain words you will say out loud. Use the same wording for every tester, so your rows compare cleanly.

Start and end time. Glance at a clock and write the minute. You do not need seconds. The gap tells you which task dragged, and whether a change you make later shortens it.

Finished. One tick. “Yes, with a hint” is its own answer, because a task the game could not teach is a finding, even if the player got through.

Where they stopped or got stuck. Write a location the way you would find it again: the room, the screen, the object. “Stood at the bridge, kept jumping at the left post” is better than “confused.” This is the most important line on the sheet.

What they asked out loud. Write the question in their words, as close as you can manage. Do not answer it. Each question marks a spot where the game did not explain itself.

The last task. Keep “Play until you feel like stopping” on every sheet. The moment they choose to stop tells you where interest fades.

Hints I gave. Every time you break silence, write when and what you said. Be honest with yourself here. A hint you forget to log makes a task look easier than it was.

The bottom block

Fill this within a few minutes of the tester leaving. Your memory of tone and timing fades fast.

Quote. One line, word for word, that the tester said during or after play. It does not need to be praise or complaint. Pick the line that best shows how they understood the game. Their words are often how future players will describe it, too. Do not tidy the grammar.

Biggest blocker. One item. If two things compete, pick the one that stopped progress, not the one that annoyed you most.

One change I will try. Write exactly one. Not a list. A single change you can make before the next session and then check. If you write three, you will not know which one helped.

Next tester. Decide now whether your next session needs fresh eyes or a returning player. The answer usually depends on whether your change targets first impressions or something deeper in the game.

Keep the sheet the same

Resist adding rows after each session. If you change the form every time, your sheets stop lining up, and comparing sessions gets harder. Change the sheet only when you change the question you are testing, and start a fresh stack when you do.

Print a few copies now, before you need them. The next time someone says they have ten minutes to try your game, you will have a pen and a page ready.