Next up was playtesting. The scores of playtesters went through the materials with a fine-tooth comb ironing out kinks, suggesting improvements, spotting confusing passages, and even doing a bit of writing here and there. Best of all, the playtest reports revealed just how much fun they were having.

Now, games are supposed to be fun — that’s why folks play. But the process of getting a game lean, mean, and polished is work. Often parts of the game aren’t fun because they are still in development. Even so, we were pretty sure we had something special.

While the playtest comments were streaming in, I was doing that editor thing. As always with CJ, the core writing was solid. I worked in the revisions based on comments, then cleaned, straightened, pressed as needed.