We will be playtesting a new board game that was just released called Escape from 100 Million B.C. on Wednesday, May 24th, from 6pm to 9pm at the Crescent Falls Church Apartment Complex (2121 N. Westmoreland St.).  We will be using the large conference room located in the lobby area of the apartment complex.

Game Description:

“Your team of intrepid adventurers has embarked on history’s first time-traveling expedition; only for the Professor’s Time Machine to malfunction, crashing into the lip of an active volcano and stranding you 100 million years in the past! Your supplies, along with several critical components of the Time Machine, have been scattered around the area. Worse, your presence in the past is causing the space-time continuum to unravel, further destabilizing the volcano that the Time Machine is perched atop! You must retrieve enough Time Machine parts for the Professor to repair the machine for the time jaunt back to the future before a paradox erases you all from history!”

Escape from 100 Million B.C. is a cooperative board game for 1 to 6 players that encourages exploration and collaboration.  It was released last month by IDW Games.

What exactly is a playtest?  How is it different than a play-through?

We playtest board games that are either brand new to the market within the last six months or older board games that we haven’t learned or ever played as a group.  Typically, if one or more of our veteran members has already played a game several times and feels comfortable teaching others in the group, we skip playtesting and are comfortable having a normal gaming session.  The goal of a playtest is to learn the game backwards and forwards.  We take our time reading and interpreting the directions.  We preview online videos to fill in any gaps in the supplied directions.  We discuss and answer questions along the way.  The pace of the game is slowed down considerably and we may not play the entire game to completion.  It isn’t about winning – it’s about learning.  As a rule, you can usually double the suggested playtime.  So a game that may take 30 minutes with an experienced group might take more than an hour or longer to playtest.

Some people love playtesting games they haven’t played and enjoy digging deep into the mechanics of the game.  However, it isn’t for everyone.  It requires patience, time, and attention to detail.  If you think it might be fun, we welcome you to attend.  But, if you are looking for a traditional gaming session, you might be disappointed.

How do I sign up for playtest gaming sessions?

Unlike our normal game sessions, we do not require online signups through SignUp Genius.  You do not have to reserve a seat for a playtest.  You just show up if you are interested in helping us learn how to play.  If we end up having more people than the game allows players, we usually team up or rotate people in and out of the game after several moves.