Task · part of 7. The blind test, with people who have never seen it
7(b). Hand it to fresh players and DO NOT help them
Required Often forgotten
Names requirement 6 by number. The group must not have played the game or witnessed a previous playtest. Give them the instruction sheet and the components, watch, and do not provide instruction. Record their feedback in the notebook.
Notes and warnings
Warning. THE BLIND TEST NEEDS PLAYERS WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE GAME, not played it, and not watched a previous playtest. Everyone who helped with requirement 6 is therefore ineligible, and so is anyone who was in the room. Plan for two separate groups from the start: one to iterate with across the three cycles of requirement 6, and one held back for this. A Scout who uses the same patrol throughout has nobody left.
Warning. WATCH, BUT DO NOT HELP. Give them the instruction sheet and the components and let them work it out. This requirement is a test of the instruction sheet you wrote at 7(a), not of the game, and stepping in to explain is the natural instinct that destroys the result.
Where this step comes from
- Game Design Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-09-19), Requirement 7(b)