BoardSketch

A playable systems workbench

Sketch the rules.
Play the consequences.

Turn a half-formed board-game idea into a deterministic, multiplayer playtest. Keep every rule change in Git—and let evidence decide what survives.

Start with a setup brief See the closed loop
  • Git-backed
  • Deterministic replay
  • Playtest evidence

The closed loop

Less hand-waving.
More playable truth.

BoardSketch keeps the creative mess, then gives it structure: rules you can inspect, sessions you can replay, and signals you can act on.

  1. 01

    Compose the system

    Describe state, actions, hidden information, and victory in a constrained game language.

    OUTPUT / REVIEWABLE RULES
  2. 02

    Stress the choices

    Compile scenarios, simulate branches, and catch dead ends or dominant moves before the table does.

    OUTPUT / PLAYABLE BUILD
  3. 03

    Play, replay, learn

    Run a real multiplayer session and preserve the trace so every claim can be checked.

    OUTPUT / DESIGN EVIDENCE

Design with receipts

A playtest should leave more than a feeling.

Every deployed revision can produce a compact evidence trail: what players did, how the game ended, and whether the exact session replays from its seed.

Frame your first test
PLAYTEST / PT-031ATTESTED
18turns
05actions
100%replay
00:18Minadraw_card+1
00:24Joonhold✓
00:31Minadraw_card+1
00:39Systemround_end7–4
seed 8f2a—44c1trace hash matched

Built for the uncertain part

Keep the sketch loose.
Keep the system honest.

⌁

Revision is the medium

Rules live beside code and history, so “what changed?” always has an answer.

◎

Players see only their view

Private hands and public state stay distinct from composition through runtime.

↺

Replay over recollection

Seeded randomness and command traces turn table stories into reproducible facts.

Start before it feels finished

What choice are you trying to make interesting?

Create a local setup brief