Diamonds from the Rough

The explosion of the game scene on the internet has had a series of unexpected consequences. I’ve discussed one or two of the negative ones in the past but on the whole its been excellent, positive stuff. If you’d have asked me four years ago that I’d play the majority of my games by email and that doing so would open up access for me to a whole new genre of games I’d previously dismissed - wargames - I’d have laughed in your face. The internet means we can often check rules and opinion before we buy a game, it means new designers can self-publish without the help of a company, it means that we have easy access to games across the globe, it means we have easy access to other gamers across the globe. Because of all this, another knock-on effect is that games can be, and often are, playtested more - a lot more - than they were in the past. Which ought to be a good thing and for the most part it is - but I’m starting to notice a slightly strange trend in some recent titles that indicates to me that its possible to playtest or discuss things in a game too much.