Playtest Simulator

Intermediate · 12 min read

The Playtest Simulator is Chitmunk's virtual tabletop for testing your game designs without printing anything. It reads your project directly from the card designer and lays everything out on a digital table where you can shuffle decks, draw cards, move tokens, roll dice, and play through a session to test game mechanics and balance.

Launching a Playtest Session

1. Open your project in the Game Home dashboard at chitmunk.com/home.
2. Select Playtest from the sidebar, or navigate directly to /playtest.
3. The first-entry setup dialog appears, letting you choose the number of players, seat colors, and which components to include on the table.
4. Click Start Session to load the virtual tabletop.

Virtual Tabletop Interface

The tabletop is a large scrollable canvas representing the play area. The interface is divided into several zones:

• Main Table Canvas (center): The play surface where components are placed. Scroll and zoom with the mouse wheel. Pan by holding the spacebar and dragging.
• Hand Panel (bottom strip): Cards in the active player's hand appear here, face-up to that player. Click a card in your hand to examine it or play it to the table.
• Game Log (right panel): A chronological list of all actions taken during the session. Each action is described in plain language ("Player 1 drew a card from Deck A").
• Seat Switcher (top-right): Switch between player perspectives. Each seat has its own color-coded hand and secret information.

Deck and Card Management

Decks from your card designer project appear on the table as stacked piles. Right-click a deck to access deck actions:

• Shuffle: Randomizes the order of the deck. Logged as a game action.
• Draw: Moves the top card to the active player's hand.
• Deal: Distributes a set number of cards to each player's hand simultaneously.
• Peek at Top: View the top card without drawing it. Only visible to the active player.
• Flip Deck: Reverses the deck order (useful for resetting a draw pile).
• Inspect: Open the deck viewer to see all cards in order.

Individual cards on the table (outside of a deck) can be:

• Flipped: Toggle between face-up and face-down. Right-click → Flip, or press F with a card selected.
• Rotated: Right-click → Rotate 90°, or drag the rotation handle.
• Stacked: Drag one card onto another to create a small pile. Right-click the pile to unstack.
• Returned to Deck: Right-click → Send to Deck, then choose which deck and position (top, bottom, random).

Game State and Undo

The playtest simulator maintains a full command log of every action. You can undo and redo any number of steps using:

• Ctrl+Z to undo the last action.
• Ctrl+Y to redo.
• The Game Log panel shows every action with an undo button next to each entry for non-sequential undo.

There are three levels of state reset:

• Undo: Reverses the most recent action (move, flip, draw, etc.).
• Reset Game State: Resets all cards and tokens to their starting positions (as defined in the setup step), but keeps the table layout (zone positions, snap areas) intact. Use this to start a new game without resetting your table arrangement.
• Full Reset: Clears everything including table layout and starts fresh from the setup dialog.

Entity and Token Placement

Beyond cards, your project's tokens, boards, tiles, and other components appear in the Component Inventory panel (click the grid icon in the top toolbar). Drag any component from the inventory onto the table to place it.

Entity types and their behaviors:

• Cards: Flippable, stackable into decks, dealt to hands.
• Tokens: Placed on the table, can be stacked by count. Right-click → Increment/Decrement to adjust stack quantities.
• Dice: Right-click → Roll to randomize face. Result logged in the game log.
• Boards: Large non-stackable elements that serve as the play surface. Placed at the center of the table by default.
• Booklets: Multi-page reference documents. Click to open a page-flip viewer.
• Containers: Box-like entities that can hold other components. Click to open/close.

Custom Zones and Snap Areas

Snap zones define designated areas on the table where components automatically snap into place when dragged nearby. They are useful for:

• Player play areas (where players place their cards in hand or tableau).
• Discard piles (a designated zone where discarded cards stack).
• Shared resource areas (where resource tokens are kept).
• Draw piles (locked position for each deck).

Creating Snap Zones

1. Right-click an empty area of the table and select Add Snap Zone.
2. A labeled rectangle appears. Drag its corners to resize it.
3. Set the zone name and snap behavior (accept cards, tokens, or both) in the zone properties panel.
4. Assign a color to the zone for visual identification.

Zone Persistence

Snap zones are part of the Table Layout — the persistent layer that survives game resets. Zones you create stay on the table until you explicitly delete them, even across multiple game sessions.

Multiplayer Playtesting

With a Legendary subscription, you can invite other players to join your playtest session in real-time. The host creates a shareable link; guests join for free with no account required.

Starting a Multiplayer Session

1. Click the Share Playtest button in the toolbar (requires Legendary tier or above).
2. A unique session link is generated. Share it with your playtesters via chat, email, or however you communicate.
3. Anyone with the link can join the session — no Chitmunk account needed. The link expires after 7 days.
4. Up to 8 players can join a single session.

How It Works

• Host controls: The host (you) manages the table setup, deals cards, and controls the session. Guests see host-only controls hidden from their view.
• Private hands: Each player's hand is visible only to them. The shared table area is visible to everyone.
• Real-time sync: All actions — draws, flips, moves, shuffles — sync instantly between all connected players via WebSocket with WebRTC peer-to-peer fallback.
• Feedback collection: Each player can submit feedback through the Feedback panel. All feedback is collected by the host for post-session review.

Tips for Effective Playtesting

• Test the setup first: Before diving into gameplay, verify that all your components loaded correctly in the inventory. Missing components usually mean their card type wasn't included in the project or the CSV data is empty.
• Use the game log as notes: The game log records every action with a timestamp. After a session, export the log (copy from the panel) to capture what happened for design notes.
• Assign seats before dealing: Use the Seat Switcher to assign seats to each player before dealing. This ensures each player's hand stays private to their seat.
• Keep the Component Inventory open: During play, you will frequently need to add more components to the table (extra tokens, replacement cards). Keep the inventory panel accessible rather than hunting for it mid-session.
• Use snap zones to reduce cleanup: Well-placed snap zones with clear labels reduce the cognitive load of managing many components. Players know exactly where their play area is, where to put discards, and where to draw from.
• Reset and repeat: The fastest way to test balance is to reset and replay specific scenarios. Use Reset Game State between test rounds to quickly compare different opening moves or card combinations.