Book the playtest

Then update the prototype

Feb 24, 2026

I spent my entire Sunday updating the digital prototype for my strategy board game (currently called The Empress, you can check out my Designer POV videos documenting the progress of the game).

If I hadn’t had a playtest scheduled for the following Monday, I likely would have spent my Sunday doing any number of other things besides updating my prototype.

But, because I had the playtest in my schedule and my friends had made time to playtest my game, I had pressure to update the prototype before then. I didn’t want to let my friends down and so I spent hours updating my prototype.

This is one of the best ways I have found to keep the design iteration process moving forward:

I book the playtest first, and then that motivates me to update the prototype. Rather than waiting until my prototype is updated, and then booking the playtest.

I also attend recurring in person designer meetups every two weeks, so that gives me a deadline to update any physical prototypes I am working on as well. I make sure to mark myself as attending, even before I have updated my prototypes.

So, I’d like to know, when is your next scheduled playtest session? If you don’t have one in your calendar, will you book one today?

Thanks and speak soon.

Your pen pal,

Pam

PS: Book a free 10 minute session or a paid 45 minute session with me: https://calendly.com/pwgamedesign

If you want to support this newsletter..

You can become a paid subscriber or buy me a coffee :) Thank you!

🎥 Latest video 🎥

10 publishers accepting board game submissions (and 5 tips for pitching to them!)

Watch on Youtube

Become a member to watch my videos early and ad free!

Publishers accepting submissions

Know of another publisher accepting game submissions? Reply to this email or add a comment below with the info! Be sure to review each publisher’s submission page to ensure your game meets their requirements. Any publishers that are ~~crossed out~~ don’t appear to be accepting submissions (no submission page on their website)

❗️= new

Party games, Puzzles & Family Games

❗️Amigo (Family card games only, NOT party or puzzle games)
Asmodee Social Game Studios (Games are submitted to Bezzerwizzer, Zygomatic and Dotted Games)
Big Potato Games* (Herd Mentality)
FoxMind (Match Madness, Brew Dice)
Mindware* (Qwirkle, Q-bitz)
Moodbox (Party games)
~~Spin Master~~* (Sidekicks, Comic Hunters, Reverse Charades) Not currently accepting submissions via their inventor relations email. They say they will be releasing a new submission process soon.

Party games AND Strategy games

25th Century Games (Green Team Wins, Ra, Agueda)
Dranda Games (Isle of Trains: All Aboard)
GameHead (Trinket Trove, Corgi pile up)
❗️IELLO (King of Tokyo)
~~Kosmos~~ ~~(Exit escape games, The Gang, My City/My Island)~~ Submissions appear to be closed
~~Origami Whale Games~~ ~~(Dicey Devices, Danger the game)~~ Submissions appear to be closed
Smirk & Dagger (Boop, HiFi, Adventure Party)
Stonemaier Games (Wingspan, Scythe, Apiary. Temporarily accepting submissions for a light/party game.)
~~Uloomi~~ ~~(The Vibe, Our Secret Society)~~ Submissions appear to be closed

Strategy games

Asmodee Group (Lab4Games) (Games are submitted to Repos Production, Days of Wonder, Space Cowboys, Libellu AND Next Move)
Bright Eye Games (Ponzi Scheme, Sumo)
Calliope Games (Tsuro, Roll for it!)
DVC Games (Karnak, Corvids)
Inside Up Games (Earth, Terminus)
Karma Games (Clans of Caledonia)
Office Dog (River of Gold, Lord of the Rings Trick Taking Game)
Paverson Games (Distilled, Luthier)
Side Room Games (For Northwood!, Orchard)

Solo games

Best with 1 (Dieson Crusoe)

*do not (usually) include the designer’s name on the box

Do not recommend

Hasbro Spark (temporarily shut down): I do not recommend submitting games to Hasbro via their Spark Portal. Games submitted via Spark are capped at 1.5% royalties (incredibly low), only pay royalties for 12 years (unheard of) and don’t commit to crediting designer on the game box (not surprising). Only pitch to Hasbro directly at speed pitch events or in person at conventions where you would get a much more favourable contract.

Upcoming events

February

Cannes Festival International des Jeux February 27-March 1, 2026 | Cannes, France

March

GAMA Expo March 1-5, 2026 | Louisville, KY, USA

Dice Tower West March 11-15, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV, USA

Unpub Festival 2026 March 12-15, 2026 | Linthicum, MD, USA

Protospiel Indy March 13-15, 2026 | Fishers, IN, USA

Terminal City Con March 13-15, 2026 | Vancouver, BC, Canada (I will be there, say hi!)

Designer Camp March 19-22, 2026 | Puszczykowo, Poland

Breakout Con March 19-22, 2026 | Toronto, ON, Canada

Level Up Retreat March 20-22, 2026 | Woodbridge, NJ, USA

Unpub at PAX East March 26-29, 2026 | Boston, MA, USA

PAX East March 26-29, 2026 | Boston, MA, USA

Tennessee Game Days March 26-29, 2026 | Franklin, TN, USA

Want to see MORE events and view them in calendar format?

Join my membership program to get access to my Board Game Designer Google Calendar that I am always updating!

Helpful resources & info

Job opportunities in the board games industry:
- Job of the Week: Ignition Core Games hiring a Game Developer/Rules Editor (Part time, Temporary, Fully remote anywhere in the world, $30/hour, email webstore@ignitioncoregames.com)
- Tabletop Game Jobs FB group
Contests:
- Contest of the Week: 9-Card Nanogame Print and Play Design Contest (Deadline: March 16, 2026)
- Cardboard Edison List of Contests
- The Game Crafter Contests
Chat with other designers:
- My Discord server
- Board Game Design Lab FB group
Playtest with other designers:
- Become a member to playtest with me and other members
- Break My Game in person and online playtest opportunities
- Virtual Playtesting Discord Server

Designers should play as many board games as possible and Board Game Arena is a great way to do that. Play board games online with friends or gamers around the world! Not a member yet? Use my referral link to join for free!