Playtest Simulator

Intermediate · 12 min read · By Chitmunk Team · Updated October 18, 2026

The Chitmunk Playtest Simulator is a built-in virtual tabletop. Your decks, tokens, and components load into a 2D table where you can deal hands, place pieces, add drop areas, and step through a session with full undo. Playing on your own table, including switching between seats to play every player yourself, is part of every plan. Rare adds online playtests for 2 players; Epic scales to 8. You don't have to wait for printed cards to find out a rule doesn't work. This guide covers launching a session, decks, tokens, drop areas, online playtests, and feedback notes.

Launching a Playtest Session

1. Open a game from Game Home at chitmunk.com/home.
2. Open your game, then click the Playtest stage tab in the band at the top. It is there in the editor, on Game Home, and on the Export and Proof pages, and it opens the table at /playtest.
3. The first time, the setup dialog "Your cards are ready: let's set up the table" asks how many players (1 to 8). More options sets the hand limit, auto-dealing, shuffling on reset, and starting counters for each player.
4. Click Start playing to load the virtual tabletop. Table setup in the toolbar reopens these choices later.

Virtual Tabletop Interface

The tabletop is a large scrollable canvas representing the play area. The interface is divided into several zones:

• Table (center): The play surface where components are placed. Scroll to zoom. Pan by holding the spacebar and dragging, or by dragging with the middle mouse button. Settings sets the table background, hand limit, and sound.
• Side panel (left): Players, Components (everything in your project, ready to drag onto the table), and Drop areas.
• Hand (bottom): Cards in the active player's hand fan out along the bottom, face-up to that player.
• Log and Feedback (right): Log lists every action in plain language, color-coded by seat. Feedback opens the notes panel.
• Seat: The Seat choice in Settings (or the number keys 1 to 8) switches between player perspectives. Boards (B) shows boards and mats in their own pane, and Split view (V) puts your cards and boards side by side.

Deck and Card Management

Decks from your card designer project appear on the table as stacked piles. Right-click a deck to access deck actions:

• Shuffle: Randomizes the order of the deck (or press S).
• Draw 1, Draw 3, Draw 5: Moves cards from the top to the active player's hand (or press D).
• Deal 1 to All: Gives one card to each player's hand.
• Peek at Top: Look at the top card without drawing it.
• Flip Top Card: Turns the top card face-up next to the deck.
• Shuffle Discard Into Deck, Sort by Name, Return All Cards: Tidy up the pile; the Set Draw Amount and Set Deal Amount choices change how many cards Draw and Deal use.
• Inspect Deck: Open the deck viewer to see all cards in order.

Individual cards on the table (outside of a deck) can be:

• Flipped: Right-click → Flip Face Up or Flip Face Down, or press F with a card selected.
• Rotated: Right-click → Rotate 90°.
• Played: Right-click a card in a hand → Play to Table.
• Returned to a deck: Right-click → Return to Deck, or Move to a pile by name. Create Pile… on an empty part of the table makes a new one.

Game State and Undo

The playtest simulator maintains a full command log of every action. You can undo and redo any number of steps using:

• Ctrl+Z to undo the last action.
• Ctrl+Y to redo.
• The Log panel lists every action. After an undo, the undone entries are dimmed until you redo them or do something new.

There are three levels of undoing:

• Undo: Reverses the most recent action (move, flip, draw, etc.).
• Reset positions (Reset menu): Returns pieces to your saved layout, or to a fresh table if you have not saved one. Use Save layout (in the more-options menu) to keep an arrangement you like.
• Start over (Reset menu): After you confirm, clears the whole playtest state, including saved layouts, and sets up a new table. Both reset choices are for solo play and are unavailable during an online playtest.

Entity and Token Placement

Beyond cards, your project's tokens, boards, tiles, and other components appear under Components in the side panel. Drag any component onto the table to place it. Auto-layout arranges every card, deck, and token by type.

Entity types and their behaviors:

• Cards: Flippable, stackable into decks, dealt to hands.
• Tokens: Placed on the table, can be stacked by count. Right-click → Increment (+1) or Decrement (-1) to adjust a stack, or Duplicate. Add Token… on an empty part of the table makes a new one.
• Dice: Right-click → Roll (or press R; Shift+R rolls all dice), or Set Face… to pick a side. Results go in the log.
• Boards: Large non-stackable elements that serve as the play surface. Right-click → Set as Background to pin one under everything else.
• Booklets: Multi-page reference documents. Right-click → Next Page or Previous Page.
• Token bags: Right-click → Draw 1 Token or Draw 3 Tokens, and Return All Tokens when you are done.

Drop Areas

Drop areas are marked parts of the table that automatically flip or stack the cards dropped on them. They are useful for:

• Player play areas (where players place cards from hand).
• Discard piles (a spot where discarded cards stack).
• Shared resource areas (where resource tokens are kept).
• Draw piles (a fixed spot for each deck).

Adding a Drop Area

1. Click Add a drop area under Drop areas in the side panel.
2. Pick a kind: Deck, Discard, Hand, Play, or Custom.
3. Give it a name. Under Limits you can set a card limit and choose which pieces it allows (cards, tokens, dice, decks, boards).
4. Click Add drop area. It appears on the table and in the Drop areas list, where you can remove it later.

Keeping Your Layout

Use Save layout in the more-options menu to keep the current arrangement. Reset positions returns to it, and Start over discards it.

Multiplayer Playtesting

With Rare or Epic you can invite other players to join your playtest online. Rare hosts 2 players, Epic up to 8. The host creates a shareable link; guests join for free with no account required.

Starting a Multiplayer Session

1. On the playtest table, click Share playtest in the top toolbar (Rare and Epic).
2. "Your table is live" appears with a link. Click Copy link and send it to your playtesters.
3. Anyone with the link can join. No Chitmunk account needed. The link works for 7 days.
4. Up to 2 players can join on Rare; up to 8 on Epic.

How It Works

• Host controls: The host sets up the table. Guests cannot push their own table state, and Reset, Start over, and Save layout are solo-only.
• Private hands: Each player's hand is visible only to them. The shared table area is visible to everyone.
• Real-time sync: Draws, flips, moves, and shuffles reach everyone as they happen, directly between browsers when possible and through Chitmunk's server otherwise.
• Feedback notes: The Feedback panel saves notes in your own browser. Each person's notes stay with that person, so ask playtesters to download theirs.

Tips for Effective Playtesting

• Test the setup first: Before diving into gameplay, check that all your components appear under Components. Missing ones usually mean that card size has no cards, or its spreadsheet is empty.
• Keep notes as you go: Select a card or token, rate it from 1 to 5 stars, add tags and a note in the Feedback panel, then Download notes after the session to carry what you learned back to the design.
• Set players before dealing: Choose the player count in Table setup, then use Deal hands, so each player's hand stays private to their seat.
• Keep Components in view: During play you will often add more pieces (extra tokens, replacement cards). The side panel keeps them one drag away.
• Use drop areas to reduce cleanup: Clearly named drop areas tell players where their play area is, where to put discards, and where to draw from.
• Reset and repeat: The fastest way to test balance is to replay specific scenarios. Use Reset positions between test rounds to compare different opening moves or card combinations.