It was following my blog post that dealt with the nuances of playtesting and what you could expect to encounter as a playtester, that I had forgotten to include a section that addressed avenues to become a playtester. Have no fear my loyal readers, I have you covered on that front as well. So, without further ado here are my suggestions on how to get involved. You’ll find a lot of commonality below.

Boardgaming
1. It is suggested you frequent websites that cater to boardgamers. I suggest choosing a site that has a large and vibrant community with lots of discussions, interactions from game designers and event company representatives. I would recommend Boardgame Geek This site sees heavy traffic from game designers, editors and artists.

2. Spend some time reading through a site’s forums. This is likely the play where you will found “calls” for playtesters.

3. Visit your favorite game publisher’s website. Many times publisher websites will include forums and they may place open calls for playtesters, proofreaders, etc.

4. Oddly enough, Kickstarter is a place to look as well. Some projects will include an Alpha or Beta set of rules and will on occasion provide Print and Play PDF components and will accept playtester feedback from backers.

5. Your local boardgaming community may have an established designer or budding designer that may solicit for local playtesting.

6. Facebook and other social media sites G+ can offer you opportunities as well. Don’t over look groups and pages there that focused on your favorite game genre or publisher.

Wargaming (Hex and Counter)
1. It is suggested you frequent websites that cater to wargamers. I suggest choosing a site that has a large and vibrant community with lots of discussions, interactions from game designers and event company representatives. I would recommend Consim Wolrd This site sees heavy traffic from game designers, editors and artists.

2. Spend some time reading through a site’s forums. This is likely the play where you will found “calls” for playtesters. With Consim World being the best place to connect with wargamers and the publishers, the site has dedicated publisher forums. Many times designers will look for playtesters in the company forums.

3. Visit your favorite game publisher’s website. Many times publisher websites will include forums and they may place open calls for playtesters, proofreaders, etc.

4. Facebook and other social media sites G+ can offer you opportunities as well. Don’t over look groups and pages there that focused on your favorite game genre or publisher.

RPGs
1. It is suggested you frequent websites that cater to Roleplaying Games I suggest choosing a site that has a large and vibrant community with lots of discussions, interactions from game designers and event company representatives. I would recommend RPG Geek or RPG.NET These sites see heavy traffic from game designers, editors and artists.

2. Spend some time reading through a site’s forums. This is likely the play where you will found “calls” for playtesters.

3. Visit your favorite game publisher’s website. Many times publisher websites will include forums and they may place open calls for playtesters, proofreaders, etc.

4. Oddly enough, Kickstarter is a place to look as well. Some projects will include an Alpha or Beta set of rules and will accept playtester feedback from backers.

5. Your local RPG community may have an established designer or budding designer that may solicit for local playtesting.

6. Facebook and other social media sites G+ can offer you opportunities as well. Don’t over look groups and pages there that focused on your favorite game genre or publisher.

Although there is are lots of similarities in how to seek out opportunities to get involved as a playtester, you should be very aware of what you want to get involved in. As I mentioned in my previous article, volunteer your time in a project that you have an interest in and don’t expect “payment” of any kind. Many designers or in some cases the company will provide only those playtesters that provided the most viable and usable feedback a copy of the game or book. This is not a guarantee, but don’t let this sway your decision to get provide feedback.

~Modoc