Not every playtester fills out the digital form. Some hand you a piece of paper. Some email you a thoughtful reply. Some give you their feedback verbally and you scribble notes during the session.

This page covers entering that offline feedback into Boardssey on the playtester's behalf, so all the responses for one playtest live in one place.

What this page helps you do

Add a manual response to a playtest.
Decide what to fill in for fields the playtester didn't answer.
Tag a response as offline / manually entered for context.

When to use this

Common situations:

Convention floor playtest: you ran 8 sessions, took rough notes on each, want a record without requiring playtesters to fill in a form.
Email reply: a playtester emailed long-form thoughts instead of using the link.
Phone call or video call: you debriefed verbally and want to capture what was said.
Paper survey: your form printed out, filled by hand, brought back to the team.

In all these cases, the goal is the same: get the data into the playtest's responses list so the Review playtest results workflow works the same way it does for digital responses.

1. Open the playtest

In the sidebar, click Playtests. Open the playtest the feedback belongs to. Click Results (or the tab equivalent).

2. Add a manual response

Click Add response (or Log offline feedback). The form opens pre-populated with the playtest's question structure.

Fill in what you know:

Required fields: at minimum, the playtester's name (or "Anonymous player 3, Convention table 2") so future-you can tell them apart.
Optional questions: leave blank if the playtester didn't address that point. Don't make up answers; the data should reflect what was actually said.
Long-text questions: paste the playtester's email or your notes verbatim where possible. Direct quotes preserve nuance better than paraphrasing.

3. Mark it as offline

In the response form, set the source / type to Offline or Manual (label varies). This flags the response so when you analyze later, you know it didn't come straight from the playtester's keyboard.

4. Save

Click Save response. It joins the rest of the playtest's responses, visible in the results list.

Pacing, capture during, log after

A pattern that works for in-person playtests:

During the session: take rough notes on paper or in a notes app. Don't try to fill the Boardssey form in real time; it's distracting.
Right after the session: while it's fresh, transcribe each playtester's notes into Boardssey as a separate response. 5-10 minutes per response, while the experience is recent enough to remember context.
Days later: too late. Notes get cold quickly. Same-day entry is ideal.

Tips & common questions

Can I edit a manual response after saving? Yes, open it in the responses list and edit. Manual responses are fully editable.

Should I batch-enter or one-at-a-time? One playtester per response, even when you're entering them all at once. The aggregate stats only work if each playtester is one record.

A playtester wants to see their own response, can I share it? Manual responses are internal. Share the response back via email or copy-paste; there's no per-response share link.

Can I attach a photo of the original paper survey? Today the form supports text, dates, and rating responses. Attach the photo to the playtest's description or notes if you want to keep the original on file.

Does the playtester see anything when I enter their response? No. Manual entry is silent, they get no notification, the response just lands in your team's view.