What Is Self-Playtesting

Why Self-Playtesting Deserves a Place Early in Your Process

Self-playtesting is the process where the designer plays the game alone (often taking the role of all players) before or alongside testing it with others.
It’s essentially “playing as everyone,” to understand from the inside how the mechanics, flow, choices, and strategies interact.

Why It Matters So Much

1. Early Detection of Problems
   When you play your prototype solo, you can quickly spot issues such as unclear rules, broken loops, overly long turns, or dominant strategies.
   As one article on early testing notes: “Rather than immediately looking for other people to play your game, you can first try out your concept by yourself.”
   (boardgamedesigncourse.com)
2. Saving Time and Resources
   Bringing others into a messy prototype wastes valuable time explaining unclear systems. By testing solo first, you run an initial “scan” of your design removing obvious friction before others ever touch it.
3. Improving the Quality of Later Playtests
   The cleaner your prototype when it reaches external testers, the better the feedback you’ll receive. Instead of “I didn’t get what I was supposed to do,” you’ll hear “When I did X, Y happened.”
   As Playtesting Best Practices puts it: “This step-by-step guide embraces the process… from early self-playtesting to late-stage unguided playtesting.”
   (Taylor & Francis, Chris Backe)
4. Sharpening Your Design Thinking
   Taking multiple player roles helps you think from other perspectives competitor, observer, cautious player, or opportunist. It trains you to see your game not as its creator but as a player encountering it for the first time.

When to Apply It

Ideally from the earliest stages even when your components are placeholders, your board is rough, and your cards are handwritten.

• Right after brainstorming your concept.
• Before you invite outside testers.
• Whenever you make significant changes and want to ensure nothing broke.
  As one designer on Reddit wisely says: “Your goal is NOT to win you want LOTS of iterations back to back.”