How many times should you playtest a game before pitching it?

I often get asked how many times should you playtest a game before pitching it to a publisher.

My usual answer is: as many times as needed until your playtesters are consistently saying things like “Let’s play again!” and “When can I buy this?”

But, I have noticed some publishers include minimum numbers of playtests required in order to submit games to them, namely Stonemaier Games and Paverson Games.

Stonemaier Games require that a game be playtested at least 10 times as well as two unguided playtests where players play the game based entirely on the rules with no intervention from the designer.

And Paverson Games require that a game be playtested at least 15 times before submitting it.

And while a game could be ready to pitch before these thresholds are met, I think they are still good milestones to reach, even if a game comes together very quickly for you and you are getting positive playtester feedback early on in the playtesting process. If you continue to playtest until you reach 10 or 15 playtests, you will most likely still find small improvements for the game experience and running unguided playtests before submitting a game is always a good idea since you want the rules to be easy for the publisher to understand.

I don’t normally keep track of the number of times I playtest one of my games. I simply playtest until I get consistent positive playtester feedback.

But, I am going to try this moving forward: I will keep track of the number of playtests I run for each of my games and even if I feel a game is ready to pitch before I reach 10 playtests and 2 unguided playtests, I will continue to playtest it until I reach those thresholds (and beyond those thresholds if I am not getting consistent playtester feedback).

Of course, I have certainly run more than 10 playtests for many of my games before pitching them, but I do think this number is a good minimum to shoot for and you can feel a sense of accomplishment once you reach it.

I do still think that this number is fairly arbitrary and that the real sign a game is ready to pitch is when playtesters (and you) are excited about it and you aren’t making any major structural changes to the game.

But, I’d like to know, do you keep track of the number of playtests you do for each game? And do you set a minimum number of playtests before you pitch a game to publishers?

That’s all for now, I hope you have a great week!

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

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

💜 Thank you to the paid subscribers of this newsletter: William, Gareth, Corcaigh, Bret, Jamiano and vmmalvaiz

Flip letters to find hidden words and climb up the monthly and all time leaderboards.

Play at www.leterflip.com and follow on Instagram for daily puzzle solve videos

Watch on Youtube

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

✨I also host co-working streams every Tuesday! I work on these newsletters during those streams, so I might still be streaming RIGHT NOW! Check it out on Youtube or Twitch ✨

I send a full digest of publishers accepting submissions to my Youtube members via Discord and to my paid subscribers in a separate newsletter. Become a paid subscriber or Youtube member to receive the full list. In this newsletter, I will highlight one publisher a week.

Inside Up Games

Notable games: Earth, Terminus

They are looking for:

• Games that are fun for the winners and losers

• High player interaction

• Tabletop games (not RPGs) with a strong theme

• Large player counts 1 or 2 to 5 or 6+

• Unique games with a “hook” that grabs interest

• Games with a smooth flow (no complicated turns or in-game maintenance)

More info on their submission page.

Origins June 17-21, 2026 | Columbus, OH, USA

• Unpub at Origins

Game Con Canada June 19-21, 2026 | Edmonton, AB, Canada

MOJO Pitch

• In person pitch: June 25, 2026 | London, UK

• Virtual pitch: July 14-16, 2026

Protospiel North June 26-28, 2026 | Toronto, ON, CA

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!

• Job opportunities in the board games industry:

  • 📊 Job of the Week: Renegade Games hiring for several positions including Game Developer and eCommerce Coordinator (Salaries not disclosed, Remote based in the US, Most positions are full time)

  • Tabletop Game Jobs FB group

• Contests:

  • 🌟 Contest of the Week: 2026 Bad Comet Cozy Game Design Contest ($500 USD Cash Prize for the winner, deadline: June 30, 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!

I hope you have a great week and best of luck with your designs.

Until next week,

Pam

PS: You can view past newsletters here.

No generative AI was used in the creation of this newsletter.