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Since 2015, PlaytestNW has operated as a collective group of game designers & volunteers to bring tabletop playtesting and game design events to the Seattle and Portland areas.
Our first convention event was at the Evergreen Tabletop Expo in 2015 and have continued to bring playtesting and playtester prize raffles to local conventions every year. Our focus has been to provide playtesting opportunities to local, indie game designers and connect them with playtesters in their community to help play and grow their prototype games. In 2018 alone, we organized 6 convention events in Seattle that showcased nearly one-hundred different prototype games from local designers, contributed thousands of feedback forms, and gave away hundreds of board game prizes to our dedicated playtesters.
(Many happy playtester prize winners)
Our monthly playtest events grew from our need to playtest on a more regular basis than a convention. These events in local game stores, cafes, and libraries are what help us engage our local community and meet other game designers looking for playtesting opportunities. We have 6 events each month around the greater Seattle area and continue to add more to the calendar every year.
(An early Fantastic Factories prototype)
Over the years, we've had many success stories come out of the PlaytestNW community. We've met game designers who started with a hand-drawn prototype and after years of playtesting, development and funding were proud to have a finished game and a supportive community ready for their next game.
We're proud to have had many published games come from the PlaytestNW events including Valeria: Card Kingdoms, Click Click Boom, Go Nuts for Donuts, Food Truck Champion, Dice of Crowns, Fantastic Factories, Horizons, Ivion, Yukon Salon, just to name a few. We continue to meet great designers every day and we want to expand our events to help more and more designers achieve their dream of having a finished, published game.
Why Change to a Non-Profit?
With over 600 members, we're looking to shift to a non-profit structure to bring more educational game design events and better serve the growing community interest in game design and playtesting. We switched from a monthly membership system to donation fundraising in order to bring events and benefits that all our community can have access to and not just paid members. Our move to a non-profit allows us to grow and serve game designers and the local community more effectively through tax-deductible donations of board games, donations of game design supplies from local game companies, and discounts on event space for our events.
(Gem Cataclysm being tested at ECCC 2019)
Who Benefits?
Local game designers and our community will enjoy our continued monthly events and conventions to playtest prototype games and participate in game design contests like the Mystery Box Game Design event and the LUCI Award. Our non-profit educational focus will allow us to create additional educational game design events including:
- Coworking events that encourage mentorship with other game designers.
- Workshop and presentations in schools, libraries, and after-school programs for children interested in game design.
- Expanding our reach of events outside the greater Seattle area and also into Oregon.
- Additional game design challenge events and game jams.
Fundraising Timeline:
This GoFundMe fundraising will last until the end of August 2019 to collect the needed funds for The Foundation Group's services that will transition PlaytestNW into a 501c3. We anticipate that this transition to a non-profit structure will take 6-12 months and we have already started our initial steps with The Foundation Group.
Where the Money Goes:
This fundraiser is for the startup fees and costs for forming a non-profit. The Foundation Group handles all our non-profit paperwork filing, our first year of tax filing, and weekly consultations for $3000.
How Your Funds Help PlaytestNW:
3% goes to GoFundMe's fees
6% goes to operational maintenance (website hosting, Mailchimp, etc)
90% goes towards The Foundation Group's SureStart program & services (Nonprofit incorporation, State fundraising registration, IRS 501(c)(3) status, IRS Form 990 preparation, Extensive consultation, and more.)
Support Challenge:
Even after our fundraising goal, PlaytestNW has monthly expenses as we look to expand our events and reach. After reaching the initial GoFundMe fundraising, we will organize one-time and recurring donations through Ko-Fi: a platform where you can donate $3 or more to help us with some of these operational costs.
Thank you to all the game designers, playtesters, and supporters that were here with us since the beginning and continue to support PlaytestNW! Together we can build better games and continue to support our local community through tabletop games for many years to come.
Thank you for your continued support!
-Nicole Jekich, PlaytestNW Director,
& The PlaytestNW Board of Directors
Our first convention event was at the Evergreen Tabletop Expo in 2015 and have continued to bring playtesting and playtester prize raffles to local conventions every year. Our focus has been to provide playtesting opportunities to local, indie game designers and connect them with playtesters in their community to help play and grow their prototype games. In 2018 alone, we organized 6 convention events in Seattle that showcased nearly one-hundred different prototype games from local designers, contributed thousands of feedback forms, and gave away hundreds of board game prizes to our dedicated playtesters.
(Many happy playtester prize winners)Our monthly playtest events grew from our need to playtest on a more regular basis than a convention. These events in local game stores, cafes, and libraries are what help us engage our local community and meet other game designers looking for playtesting opportunities. We have 6 events each month around the greater Seattle area and continue to add more to the calendar every year.
(An early Fantastic Factories prototype)Over the years, we've had many success stories come out of the PlaytestNW community. We've met game designers who started with a hand-drawn prototype and after years of playtesting, development and funding were proud to have a finished game and a supportive community ready for their next game.
We're proud to have had many published games come from the PlaytestNW events including Valeria: Card Kingdoms, Click Click Boom, Go Nuts for Donuts, Food Truck Champion, Dice of Crowns, Fantastic Factories, Horizons, Ivion, Yukon Salon, just to name a few. We continue to meet great designers every day and we want to expand our events to help more and more designers achieve their dream of having a finished, published game.
Why Change to a Non-Profit?
With over 600 members, we're looking to shift to a non-profit structure to bring more educational game design events and better serve the growing community interest in game design and playtesting. We switched from a monthly membership system to donation fundraising in order to bring events and benefits that all our community can have access to and not just paid members. Our move to a non-profit allows us to grow and serve game designers and the local community more effectively through tax-deductible donations of board games, donations of game design supplies from local game companies, and discounts on event space for our events.
(Gem Cataclysm being tested at ECCC 2019)Who Benefits?
Local game designers and our community will enjoy our continued monthly events and conventions to playtest prototype games and participate in game design contests like the Mystery Box Game Design event and the LUCI Award. Our non-profit educational focus will allow us to create additional educational game design events including:
- Coworking events that encourage mentorship with other game designers.
- Workshop and presentations in schools, libraries, and after-school programs for children interested in game design.
- Expanding our reach of events outside the greater Seattle area and also into Oregon.
- Additional game design challenge events and game jams.
Fundraising Timeline:
This GoFundMe fundraising will last until the end of August 2019 to collect the needed funds for The Foundation Group's services that will transition PlaytestNW into a 501c3. We anticipate that this transition to a non-profit structure will take 6-12 months and we have already started our initial steps with The Foundation Group.
Where the Money Goes:
This fundraiser is for the startup fees and costs for forming a non-profit. The Foundation Group handles all our non-profit paperwork filing, our first year of tax filing, and weekly consultations for $3000.
How Your Funds Help PlaytestNW:
3% goes to GoFundMe's fees
6% goes to operational maintenance (website hosting, Mailchimp, etc)
90% goes towards The Foundation Group's SureStart program & services (Nonprofit incorporation, State fundraising registration, IRS 501(c)(3) status, IRS Form 990 preparation, Extensive consultation, and more.)
Support Challenge:
Even after our fundraising goal, PlaytestNW has monthly expenses as we look to expand our events and reach. After reaching the initial GoFundMe fundraising, we will organize one-time and recurring donations through Ko-Fi: a platform where you can donate $3 or more to help us with some of these operational costs.
Thank you to all the game designers, playtesters, and supporters that were here with us since the beginning and continue to support PlaytestNW! Together we can build better games and continue to support our local community through tabletop games for many years to come.
Thank you for your continued support!
-Nicole Jekich, PlaytestNW Director,
& The PlaytestNW Board of Directors