Last weekend I found myself at StabCon in Stockport. I started the year by deciding to check out what conventions were on; so I could go and try out new games, and try and recruit playtesters.
On Wednesday the 4th of January I looked up what was on this year, and realised that planning ahead wasn't going to happen... the first local con was on the 6th. So, one flurry of printing later, I rushed out to attend.
The atmosphere was great, the people friendly, and I got very useful feedback. After the first day, I knew that the players needed to be taking their turns simultaneously. Half way through the second, I found some things that needed to be changed in the card list.
By the end of the second day I'd found out that even for my playtest cards, I still need to take advantage of the power of colour in helping people sort their cards.
And even more importantly than any of that: I'd found people who played my game repeatedly, without me asking them to. It actually is fun!
Playing with gamers, and particularly with gamers who aren't my friends, gave me massive amounts of information on how to improve my game. I definitely need to do more of it.
It's nice to play with friends; but friends are sometimes too shy to tell you what they really feel. And even though it took a lot of effort not to try and defend my game from criticism, I really value the critics.
Sometimes what you really need is a slap around the back of the head.
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