Log a playtest session
Record a playtest on its Playtest Information tab: date, goal, version, timing, score board, engagement rating, feedback and notes.
Last reviewed October 11, 2026
A playtest in Boardssey is a record of one session: when you played, which version, who sat at the table, how long each part took, who won and how engaged the group was. This page walks through every field on the playtest page.
What this page helps you do
- Create a playtest for a game in one click.
- Fill in the session details: date, goal, version, player count.
- Time the setup, the rules explanation and the game itself.
- Record each player's score, role and result on the Score Board.
- Rate the session's engagement and write up your feedback and notes.
You'll start from the sidebar: Playtests, then click the game
(/home/playtests).
Before you start
- You need a game. Playtests always belong to one.
- Add the game's versions first if you want to pick one on the playtest (see Game versions).
- Everyone on the team can log playtests for the games they can open.
1. Create the playtest
Open Playtests in the sidebar, click the game, then click Create new playtest at the top right. Boardssey creates the session and opens it.
Helpful details
- Key areas: the new page is titled "Playtest 1", "Playtest 2" and so on, counting up per game. Above the title, Back to <game> playtests takes you to the game's list, and Save Playtest sits at the right.
- What you can do: the page has four tabs: Playtest Information, Feedback, Feedback Form and Notes. Start on Playtest Information.
- Good to know: the title cannot be changed. Describe the session in Playtest Goal instead; that text shows in the game's All Playtests table and is what the search box there looks through.
2. Fill in the session details
The left side of Playtest Information holds the basics.
Helpful details
- Key areas:
- Test Nº: set for you, cannot be edited.
- Date: click Select a date to pick the day.
- Playtest Goal: what you wanted to learn, up to 500 characters.
- Physical Playtest: a switch. The hint says "Keep this off if you are running an online playtest". It feeds the dashboard's Physical vs Digital comparison.
- Game Version: pick one of the game's versions. If the list says "No versions available", add versions on the game page first.
- Player Count: a number from 1 to 100, with plus and minus buttons.
- What you can do: change the player count and the Score Board below grows or shrinks to match, one row per player.
- Good to know: the dashboard filters by version and by physical or remote, so these two fields are worth filling in every time.
3. Time the session
The Game Time block on the right has six time fields: Setup Start, Setup End, Rules Start, Rules End, Game Start and Game End.
Helpful details
- Key areas: the Full Playthrough switch at the top of the block records whether you played to the end. Under the fields, Log Time and Erase Time. Overall Time and Playtime at the bottom are filled in for you (their placeholder says "Autocompleted").
- What you can do: click Log Time during the session: each click stamps the current time into the next empty field, in order from Setup Start to Game End. Erase Time clears the last stamped field. You can also type a time (hours and minutes) into any field.
- Good to know: Overall Time runs from Setup Start to Game End; Playtime runs from Game Start to Game End. A game that crosses midnight is handled (an end time earlier than the start counts as the next day).
4. Fill in the Score Board
The Score Board has one row per player. Rows are named "Player 1", "Player 2" and so on until you type real names.
Helpful details
- Key areas: columns Player Name, Turn Order, Scores, Role, any custom fields you added, Win and New Player. The three-dot menu at the end of a row has Delete.
- What you can do: type a name and a score, set the turn order, flip Win for the winner(s) and New Player for anyone playing for the first time. Role suggests roles you used in earlier playtests of this game (factions, characters, colors).
- Good to know: a player name is required to save a row. Turn Order, Win and New Player feed the dashboard's turn order impact, first player win rate and new vs returning players charts, so fill them in when you can.
5. Add custom columns with Manage Fields
Click Manage Fields above the Score Board to open Custom Scoreboard Fields. Fields belong to the game, so every playtest of that game shares them.
Helpful details
- Key areas: the list of existing fields, each with a switch (Activate / Deactivate) and a delete button, then Add New Field with a name box ("e.g. Faction, Character..."), a type picker and a plus button.
- What you can do: choose a type of Text, Number or Yes / No. Active fields appear as extra columns on the Score Board; deactivated ones are hidden but keep their data. Text fields suggest values you typed before.
- Good to know: the dashboard shows a card per custom field with average score and win rate for each value, so a "Faction" field tells you which faction wins most. Deleting a field removes it from every playtest.
6. Rate the engagement
At the bottom of the tab, Overall Engagement Rating is a slider from 1 (angry face) to 7 (laughing face).
Helpful details
- Key areas: the slider and its numbers 1 to 7.
- What you can do: drag to your gut feeling about how engaged the table was.
- Good to know: the dashboard averages this score "out of 7.0" and plots it over time, so use the same personal scale from session to session. A "PRO Tip" box under the slider shows a playtesting tip from Fail Faster.
7. Write your feedback and notes
The Feedback and Notes tabs are two rich-text editors for you and your team. They are not visible to playtesters.
Helpful details
- Key areas: Feedback for what you learned (what worked, what did not, what to change). Notes for anything else: table talk, house rules tried, who to invite back.
- What you can do: format text, add lists and headings, and paste quotes from paper forms or emails.
- Good to know: these tabs are for your own write-up. Feedback from playtesters through a link lives in the Feedback Form tab instead (see Build feedback forms).
8. Saving
The page saves itself two seconds after your last change and shows a small "Auto-saved" message at the bottom right. Save Playtest at the top right saves immediately.
Helpful details
- Key areas: Save Playtest button; the "Auto-saved" or "Auto-save failed" toast.
- What you can do: click Save Playtest before closing the tab if you do not want to wait for the autosave.
- Good to know: autosave covers every tab, including Feedback and Notes. "Playtest saved" confirms a manual save.
Logging from the Virtual Table
If your team has the Prototypes beta (Pathfinder plan and up), a Virtual Table room has a Log playtest button. It saves the players and the length in minutes under a game, and can create a feedback form with a link, a QR code and a Give feedback button on the table. The playtest then appears in All Playtests titled "<room> (virtual table)". See Log a playtest from the Virtual Table.
Tips & common questions
Can I rename a playtest? No. The title is "Playtest N" and Test Nº counts up per game. Put the session's name or place in Playtest Goal, which is the column you can search in the list.
Can I copy a playtest to use as a template? Not today. The custom fields you add with Manage Fields are shared by all playtests of the game, so the Score Board layout carries over on its own.
I forgot to press Log Time during the game. Can I enter the times later? Yes. Type the times into the fields by hand. Overall Time and Playtime recalculate as you type.
Does the playtest need a feedback form? No. Many designers log in-person sessions with the Score Board and the Feedback tab only. Add a form when you want playtesters to answer questions on their own device (see Build feedback forms).