Weekly Review Jun. 11th to Jun. 17th

Another sparse week, much of the RPG theory discussion has centered on aspects of designing and testing RPGs.

Playtest Cycles

Chris Chinn brings up the question of playtest cycles. In particular the need to see the ramifications of changes being a central limitation on the process of RPG design. Thomas Robertson extends this discussion, in particular pointing out the alternative to the playtest cycle is to a deeply analyzed RPG, which typically also means a very simple one.


A Sense of Touch

Over on Story Games is a discussion on the use of physical components in RPGs. Of note, is what effect the tactile nature of the game has on the players, in terms of how concrete or abstract the game feels. This levels some very interesting questions on the differences between on-line and face-to-face play.