playtesting

Playtesting with Big Changes: Faster Turns, Better Flow, and Smarter Resources

A few weeks ago, we shared the rules for Sylvan Tactics publicly for the first time. And almost immediately after, we put those rules to the test with real players in a remote playtest hosted by the wonderful folks over at the Distraction Makers podcast Discord. The results? Encouraging, insightful, and just a little bit humbling.

We have been big fans of the Distraction Makers podcast during the development of Sylvan Tactics. They cover a wide range of game design topics and often use Magic the Gathering and other card-battlers as examples.

The Problem: Decision-Making Bottlenecks

The biggest piece of feedback we heard from that session and podcast host, Forrest Imel, was that turns felt… slow. Not in the sense of complex or drawn-out rules, but in terms of decision-making friction. New players did not have the game knowledge to evaluate which cards in their opening hand would be the best choice to discard when creating a Sigil. Then they had to inspect every card in the draft row to decide if they should pick one to draw or just draw a random card from the draw deck.

In theory, these mechanics created interesting tension. In practice, they stalled momentum. The result? Too many turns where players were staring at the board, parsing options, and not doing much. And that runs directly counter to what we want: action-packed turns full of movement, tactical card plays, and big, satisfying swings.

The Solution: A Single, Elegant Change

We realized something kind of magical: we could solve both the hand-size issue and the draft row redundancy with a single change. Make Sigils their own unique cards.

By separating Sigils from the rest of the deck, players no longer had to discard cards from their hand to build their resource base. That meant more cards to choose from each turn and fewer hard choices that happen before the fun starts. Plus, since you weren’t burning through your deck just to play Sigils, we could remove the draft row entirely without fear of players being starved for options.

The New Sigils

With just a few days to spare before Protospiel Kansas City, we redesigned our prototype decks to include six dedicated Sigil cards per player. Each turn, you flip one of your dormant Sigils to its active side, representing the growth of your resource pool. No more sacrificing cards. No more draft row clutter. Just smooth, forward momentum.

To make room and keep the print run under 108 cards, we trimmed a few redundant cards and rebalanced the deck accordingly.

The Game Crafter graciously provided a plethora of playtesting game pieces for attendees of Protospiel Kansas City.

Testing the New Build at Protospiel KC

Protospiel Kansas City was an incredible experience. I made the solo trek from Eastern Iowa with my newly revised prototype and found myself surrounded by some of the most welcoming and insightful designers I've ever met.

Within the first few test games, it was clear: the Sigil change was a massive success. Players felt empowered, turns moved faster, and the game’s rhythm felt more fluid and exciting. In fact, it was almost too good. We had to cap the starting and max hand size to six to keep players from being overloaded with options.

New Feedback and New Experiments

Here’s what stood out from all the games we played that weekend:

1. The Art and Theme Are Resonating.
Seeing people light up when they saw the anthropomorphic woodland animal art was incredibly rewarding. We’ve gotten great responses online, but nothing beats hearing someone say, “Oh my gosh, this raccoon is amazing,” in person.

2. Sometimes You Still Get Dead Cards.
And sometimes that’s okay. Not every card in your hand is always helpful. Some of that is due to how you play and position your units. But to give players more agency, we’re introducing a new mechanic: once per turn, you can invoke your King to discard two cards and draw one from the deck. It’s a calculated gamble, and we love that. Combine it with the Queen’s ability (sacrifice 1 Health to draw a card), and players now have multiple ways to manage their hand strategically.

3. High-Cost Cards Can Feel Like a Trap.
Some of our coolest Mercenaries cost all six Sigils to play. While they’re powerful, players often felt hesitant to commit all their resources in one go. So we’re experimenting with a new keyword: Apex Predator. Mercenaries with this keyword can be played for 2 fewer Sigils if you’re willing to sacrifice a Pawn and take 2 morale damage to your King. Since morale damage can’t kill you, this offers a potential comeback mechanic and makes it more satisfying to deploy those big threats when you’re behind.

4. Some Cards Just Weren’t Fun.
We ended up changing a few different cards to improve overall enjoyment of the game. For example, Hard Freeze was originally designed to prevent your opponent from invoking any cards for a turn. Cool on paper, but not fun to be on the receiving end. We’ve since reworked it to prevent your opponent from invoking just their Mercenaries. They can still invoke Sigils to play cards from their hand, keeping the game engaging while retaining the spirit of disruption.

Looking Ahead

Every iteration of Sylvan Tactics brings us closer to our vision: a game that rewards clever play, offers deep tactical choices, and delights players with its art and atmosphere. We’re getting there. And events like Protospiel KC are a huge part of that journey.

Our next in-person playtesting event is coming up this weekend at the EICC Gaming Convention in Davenport, Iowa. I plan to be there demoing Sylvan Tactics all day on Saturday in their board gaming room. Stop by and try the new mechanics!

If you want to view the latest version of the rules with all the changes described above, you can find those here.

We’re planning to keep pushing and refining ahead of an eventual crowdfunding campaign. If you want to follow along (or try the game yourself), be sure to join us on Bluesky, Instagram, or our Discord.

Thanks to everyone who’s played, tested, or offered feedback so far. You’re helping us make something truly special.

Come Playtest Sylvan Tactics at Protospiel Kansas City!

We’re excited to announce that Sylvan Tactics will be making an appearance at Protospiel Kansas City on April 4th and 5th!

This is your chance to jump into the tactical woodland battlefield and get an early look at some big changes we’ve been working. Be one of the first to test these new mechanics that have been made thanks to some great feedback from recent online playtests. If you’ve been following our design journey, you know we’ve never been afraid to experiment.

Nearly 200 paper playtesting card inserts removed in preparation for Protospiel Kansas City. They have all been updated and replaced with revised rules, stats, and mechanics.

If you’re in the area and want to help shape the future of Sylvan Tactics, we’d love to have you stop by our table and join a session. Feedback from playtesters like you is how this game keeps evolving into something special.

Online badge registration is closed, but you can still purchase badges at the door. More info about the event can be found here: Protospiel Kansas City

Please note that we will not be there on Sunday April 6th due to previous commitments. Hopefully you can make it on Friday or Saturday though!

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Sylvan Tactics: Official Rules Reveal and Card Gallery Preview

It’s time! Over the past few months, we’ve shared behind-the-scenes looks at how we combined classic chess mechanics with a card-battling twist, teased our approach to sustainability, and showcased some of our prototype artwork. Now, at last, we’re thrilled to share the full rules of Sylvan Tactics with you. This post will give a quick overview of the gameplay experience and then direct you to our newly released rules document and a fresh gallery of card previews.

A Quick Introduction to the Rules

Sylvan Tactics uses a standard chess board and pieces, but every piece is represented by a card that bestows additional stats and abilities. You’ll still see Knights moving in L-shapes, Bishops sweeping diagonally, and Rooks charging in straight lines, but each piece has a distinct power set defined by the card you assign to it.

Resource Management with Sigils

In addition to moving and attacking with your units, you’ll manage resources called Sigils to power up your card-driven abilities. Sigils work almost like a “mana” system in other card games, except they come straight from your hand - any card can become a Sigil. Use them carefully, because the number of actions and plays you can make each turn depends on how many Sigils you can pay.

Units and Combat

  • Pawns: The backbone of your army. Pawns can advance steadily, just like chess, and even promote to powerful Mercenary units if they reach the far side of the board.

  • Mercenaries: These are your specialized pieces (Rook, Bishop, Knight) with unique cards that govern their stats and skills.

  • Queen & King: Each retains their iconic chess movement, but their health system adds a new layer of strategy. Especially the King, whose defeat means you lose the game.

Combat is straightforward but tactical: if your attacker’s Strength is at least as high as the defender’s, the defender is defeated. Otherwise, the defender becomes “wounded,” which sets them up for a finishing blow in the next attack.

Card-Battling Meets Board Control

While positioning on the board is crucial (just like in chess), you also have to consider card synergy, Sigil costs, and surprise plays. Will you spend Sigils on big, game-changing Mercenaries, or swarm with cheaper Pawns? Should you gamble on drawing a powerful card from the deck, or pick a known (but possibly less exciting) option from the face-up draft row? The interplay of these decisions keeps the tension high and the outcome uncertain in the best possible way.

Explore the Full Rules Document

Ready to dig in? We’ve made our full rules accessible in an online document that we’re also opening to community comments. We’d love to hear your feedback:

Sylvan Tactics Rules

Whether you’re curious about the finer points of placing your units, the exact mechanics behind Mercenary partnerships, or how morale damage works, this document covers it all. It’s a living rulebook, so if something isn’t crystal-clear, feel free to leave a comment. We’re excited to continue refining Sylvan Tactics with the help of our early followers and playtesters.

Browse Our New Card Preview Gallery

We’ve also put together a new online gallery of all the card designs we’ve shared on social media so far. This is your chance to get a closer look at the anthropomorphic woodland creatures and the game-changing abilities they possess:

Sylvan Tactics Card Previews

Expect even more reveals in the weeks ahead, including more card art and abilities every week. We hope these previews spark your imagination for the strategic possibilities at play and give you additional context to help understand the rules document.

What’s Next?

1. Crowdfunding Launch
It’s going to be a while before we are ready, but the end goal here will be to get you a finished copy of the game. Follow us on our journey!

2. Playtest Opportunities
We’ll be hosting online and in-person playtests. Follow us on social media or join our Discord so you don’t miss your chance to try Sylvan Tactics before it launches.

3. Community Feedback
The Sylvan Tactics community has been instrumental in shaping the game so far. If you have questions, comments, or brilliant ideas, share them in the rules document comments, on Discord, or via social media.

Join the Conversation

We can’t wait to see your armies take shape on the board as you experiment with different strategies, combos, and card synergies. Thank you for coming along on this journey with us. Dive into the new rulebook and card gallery, and let us know what you think!

Physical vs. Digital Playtesting: Our Experience with Sylvan Tactics on Tabletopia

We've been hard at work refining Sylvan Tactics over the past few months. One of our most recent developments has been creating a digital version of the game on Tabletopia for virtual playtesting. This has been an eye-opening experience that has fundamentally changed our development process, and today I want to share some insights about the differences between physical and digital playtesting.

Why We Chose Tabletopia

After exploring several virtual tabletop platforms, we settled on Tabletopia for a few key reasons:

  • Completely free for our needs

    • Already includes chess boards and chess pieces as standard components

    • No need for a paid game setup or custom 3D component designs at this stage

  • Accessibility for playtesters

    • Works directly in a browser with a simple URL link

    • Playtesters don't need to create accounts—they can simply enter a guest username when joining a game room

  • Functionality that fits our game

    • The interface is intuitive enough for our playtesters to learn quickly

    • Custom zones and component snapping features support our unique mechanics like the Sigil system

While platforms like Tabletop Simulator offer more extensive scripting capabilities, we found that Tabletopia's simpler approach was actually better suited for Sylvan Tactics. The game's hybrid nature—combining chess pieces with card mechanics—fits neatly within Tabletopia's component system without requiring complex automation.

The current iteration of Sylvan Tactics in digital form.

Physical vs. Digital: The Unexpected Tradeoffs

What We Gained from Digital Testing

After a couple of weeks of virtual playtesting, we've noticed several significant advantages:

  • Geographic flexibility

    • We've run tests with players who are separated by large distances who would never have been able to join a physical session

    • This has diversified our feedback and helped identify blind spots in our design

  • Iteration speed

    • Card updates that previously required printing, cutting, and sleeving can now be implemented in minutes

    • We can test small changes immediately rather than batching them for the next physical prototype

  • Scheduling convenience

    • Virtual sessions are easier to set up and require less commitment from playtesters

    • We can run more frequent, shorter sessions that focus on specific mechanics

  • Systematic feedback

    • Screen recording during sessions helps us revisit exactly what happened during crucial moments

    • Playtesters can easily take screenshots to highlight issues or interesting situations

What We Miss from Physical Testing

Despite these advantages, digital playtesting doesn't completely replace the physical experience:

  • Tactile feedback is missing

    • The satisfying feel of moving a chess piece to capture an opponent's unit

    • The physical act of rotating cards to invoke them

  • Social dynamics are different

    • Table talk is more constrained in a digital environment

    • Body language and emotional reactions are harder to read

  • Interface limitations

    • Some actions that are intuitive in physical play require additional clicks or menus

    • Players sometimes struggle with the physics system when performing simple actions like stacking cards

Making Digital Playtesting Work: Our Tabletopia Setup

To overcome some of the limitations of digital playtesting, we've developed several techniques specific to Tabletopia:

Magnetic Maps: The Secret Weapon

The component snapping and rotating features with Magnetic Maps have been essential. While technically you could play the entire game without them, relying on physics and mouse controls would make the experience frustratingly fiddly.

This was especially important for our “invoke” mechanic. In the physical game, you turn cards sideways to indicate being invoked. Without a Magnetic Map, players would need to use the right-click menu and select the 90-degree rotate option—a tedious process for an action performed multiple times per turn.

Our solution was to create invoking zones for each card slot, positioned just above the card and marked with a rotated card outline. When players drag a card into these zones, it automatically rotates sideways. We've also set magnetic zones to automatically flip cards face up or down for our Sigil creation mechanic and draft row. All of this is done with image files and requires no coding at all.

Here’s what a Magnetic Map file looks like.

Tabletopia Tips from Our Experience

If you're considering using Tabletopia for your own game, here are some practical tips we've learned:

  • For free game setups, use multiple smaller game boards

    • Image resolution limitations make larger boards difficult to read

    • We initially made this mistake, and while our board is functional, it doesn't look great

    • We plan to split it into sections for better visual clarity in future iterations

  • Create custom reference cards for digital-specific controls

    • We added cards explaining how to perform common actions

    • This significantly reduced the learning curve for new playtesters

  • Use color-coding for magnetic zones when possible

    • Subtle visual cues help players understand where components should go

    • This reduces the need for lengthy explanations about the interface

  • Set up your pieces to minimize scrolling

    • Arrange your game board and player areas to fit comfortably on a standard screen

    • Excessive scrolling creates friction that doesn't exist in physical play

Tabletopia Limitations We've Encountered

No platform is perfect, and we've hit a few frustrating limitations with Tabletopia:

  • Updating card backs is tedious

    • While you can create an entire deck with the same card back initially, updating that back later requires changing each card individually

    • With our ~100 card deck, this was extremely time-consuming

  • Limited component placement tools in the editor

    • There's no grid snapping or alignment tools

    • Our workaround was to make a temporary magnetic map just to place components in the editor, lock them, and then remove the map

  • Physics glitches can disrupt play

    • Occasionally cards or pieces will behave unexpectedly

    • We've had to design our magnetic maps to minimize these issues

The Hybrid Approach: Getting the Best of Both Worlds

Rather than choosing between physical and digital playtesting, we've found that a hybrid approach offers the greatest benefits:

  • Start physical, move digital

    • Initial concept testing works best in person where you can be certain that the core mechanics are viable in a physical setting

    • Once the core system is stable, move to digital to refine balance and test edge cases

  • Use digital for quantity, physical for quality

    • Digital tests can give you more data points across more players

    • Physical tests provide deeper insights into player engagement and emotional response

  • Alternate between environments

    • Digital testing might reveal an issue that's best addressed with hands-on physical testing

    • Physical observations can inform how you structure your digital implementation

Join Our Playtesting Community

We're continuing to refine Sylvan Tactics through both physical and digital playtesting, and we'd love for you to be part of that process. If you're interested in participating in our Tabletopia sessions, join our Discord server where we announce upcoming playtesting opportunities.

The game has evolved significantly thanks to player feedback, and every test brings us closer to the perfect balance of depth and accessibility we're aiming for.

Have you participated in digital playtesting for other games? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments, or join the conversation on Bluesky or Instagram!

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