September 2025 - Playtest games at Geeky Teas! PLUS board game exchange!

Players and game designers wanted for this open house style event!

FEE: $8 to play at Geeky Teas - payable at the event to Geeky Teas at front desk. Once paid, you're covered to play games ALL DAY.

SPECIAL TO THIS EVENT! During Open Play from 11am-1pm, we will be hosting a board game 'exchange'. How this will work:

• Bring up to 5 of your own games (new or used) you don't want or need anymore
• All games go into a collective "free store" pile
• Anyone in the group may take 1-5 games from the "free store."
• If your game/s haven't been taken, bring them home, or donate them to the Geeky Teas library.

Please note this is NOT a math trade. No one will be reinforcing fair trades for equally valuable games, so don't bring your $200 copy of Battlestar Galactica unless you are really ok with giving it away!

SCHEDULE:
Game days have 3 segments. You do not need to come for the whole day! However, it is good etiquette if you are testing your own game to stay and test at least one other designer's game as well.

11:00am - 1:00 pm
OPEN PLAY TESTING
This is unstructured play time, ideal for short games (45min or less), 2 player games, and games that require a quieter environment. If you're a designer, grab an available table and let people know you are looking for players. If you're a player, just sit down at a game and play!

### Session One (arrive by 1pm)

• The Party Lone
  Designer: Alexander W.
  4-8 players
  A social deductive race to be right more than your peers. You are farm animals trying to agree with what The Farmer will say.

• Dungeon Crawler Carl - Unstoppable
  Designer: John C.
  2 players
  A solo or 2-player co-op game; a new version of Unstoppable based on the popular "Dungeon Crawler Carl" book series.

• Time Empire
  Designer: Andy A.
  2-4 players
  Time Empire is a worker-placement, area-control, time-travel strategy game.

• Pattern Blue
  Designer: Damon S.
  3-4 players
  A cooperative card puzzle game involving card-driven communication

• Supercritical
  Designer: Joseph B.
  4 players
  Top scientists of the atomic age go head to head in this engine-building deck builder where players must trash cards to unlock powerful upgrades.

• The Bridge Is Out!
  Designer: Bob W.
  4 players
  You've looted an ancient temple—can you make a getaway across a collapsing 3-D bridge where your meeples can actually fall through?

• Burnt Out: A Race to the Bottom
  Designer: Jacen S.
  3-6 players
  Blind-bidding, push-your-luck game where players are upper management at competing animation studios; bid on jobs, assign artists, and manage your team's growing burnout.

• Tactical Response
  Designer: Tim W.
  2-4 players
  A card-driven, dice-dexterity tactical game. Draw cards, move units, commit actions while rolling dice into zones based on target range.

### Session Two (arrive by 3:15pm)

• Helluva Boss
  Designer: Joshua B.
  2-4 players
  A cooperative puzzle game for 4 players where you work together to bring order to the rings of hell; this session tests the new campaign version.
• Fractured Aether
  Designer: Peter H.
  2-5 players
  A worker placement game about repairing the magical substrate of a Zelda-like world.
• Train Tricks
  Designer: Steve E.
  5 players
  An 1880s train-themed trick-taking game with changing rules, as-you-go bidding, and an "engine" that requires coal cards or the round stops.
• Cute Cults
  Designer: Chuck B.
  6 players
  A card competition to create the craziest cute critter cult compound. Smite rival cults and grow your follower base.
• Killing with Kindness
  Designer: Scott R. & Manny V.
  4 players
  Manage a quaint, cozy hotel in the wondrous woods; feed adorable guests while horrors in the basement demand a nightly due.
• Texas Tarot
  Designer: Gabe G.
  2-4 players
  Build tarot cards and compete for customers by giving readings.
• Tectonic
  Designer: Kevin F.
  2-4 players
  A deck-building game about making mountains from the stuff of the solar system.

5:30-6:30pm
DINNER BREAK

6:30-10pm
THE SKUNKWORKS
This is unstructured time to test your wildest ideas. Bring the game that may break in 5 minutes, the one that requires 10 people, or the one that may involve crawling on the ground. Bring objects that could be games, half baked ideas, and untested print and plays. Take risks, be silly, and most importantly, have fun!

SPECIAL NOTES: No outside food is permitted but there are snacks/drinks sold at Geeky Teas. Also, FYI - There are cats at the store, roaming but keep to themselves.

Please read these guides, especially if you are new to design or playtesting-
How to do better playtesting!
How to explain rules for your confusing game prototype!

Code of Conduct Rules

1. Be kind.
2. Seriously, be even more kind than you think you need to be.
3. Read the guidelines for giving and receiving feedback.
4. Respect the rules of our venues (Geeky Teas, Paper Heroes, Odyssey, etc). We will continue to be welcome as long as we continue to be good guests.
5. New members must come to First Play as a playtester at least once before having the opportunity to run a game.
6. If you have RSVP'd to run a game, show up for your time slot. If you do not show up for your time slot, you will get a strike against you. Three strikes and moderators will discuss next steps with you about if you will be allowed to continue running games.
7. Be respectful of other community members- give as much as you receive. Playtest other peoples' games, not just your own.
8. In the case of an unresolvable or continuing conflict, please let a moderator know so we can determine next steps.
9. You will receive a warning if a legitimate complaint is lodged against you. In the case of a continuous issue, a group of at least 3 moderators will discuss and determine next steps. Consistent bad behavior will lead to a group ban.

See you soon!

Have questions?

For FAQ's, please see here - First Play FAQ’s

For a specific question please email *cassandra@ixiongameworks.com*

For community conversations join the Cardboard Alchemy Discord: https://discord.gg/2pYk3TT - find the #first-play-la-chat channel!