5 things we learned at Dragonmeet - the first public demo of Lab Wars.

Yep, that's right we went public with Lab Wars!. PLUS, This was our first board game convention, EVER. We met some amazing people, and we received some really positive feedback but also some really constructive feedback too. Also: what you felt about the game, how you wanted the game to change but also, and what pleased us most was that, in general it's pretty much complete!

This is how we started the day:

Our smiles was a real reflection of how we felt! Chuffed that we had been allowed to demonstrate at Dragonmeet!

This soon turned to chaos when we were overwhelmed and inundated with players wanting to play Lab Wars! At one point there was a queue of around 10 people wanting to play, something we didn't expect.

1. People genuinely enjoyed playing Lab Wars

when we first started out designing the game, from it being a concept that was plucked out of thin air, we had no idea how it would run. To be perfectly honest, we bored ourselves to tears playing the first versions of Lab Wars on holiday in Spain. However, being the ever nerdy researchers in real life during our jobs, reading and working hard on game design really paid off. People were genuinely laughing at our event cards, people were thrusting their hands in to the air in becoming science experts and people were mocking their competitors for sabotaging their scientific endevours!

2. The design and illustration of the cards were great

Although playtesters picked the illustrator having to combine two different artist's work may have resulted in a disjointed effort. However, the feedback we got was that they looked effortless and very professional. We did however, get some further feedback on where certain icons on the card should be placed and we thank everyone who gave us some invaluable comments.

3. The attack and sabotage feature of Lab Wars was people's favourite part.

Human beings are kind souls and love everyone around them...hahaha just kidding, and that's especially not the case of board gamers! The opportunity to destroy/steal/manipulate someone's research during the game was something most gamers said they enjoyed most about the game! Some of you guys playing were pure evil! I'm glad it brings out the Jekyll in the Hyde in all of you ;)

4. No science degree needed here!

About 80% of the dragonmeet players were not scientists at all and it was great to hear feedback like "I now know what it's like to be in lab without having to know ANY science to play the game". Although clearly, it is a geeky game about academia and research, it's fantastic that non-scientists enjoyed the game :)

5. The game still needs work.

Clearly the game is not finished, and there is no way we are going to release the game without every little detail, the rulebook and illustration being crystal clear and perfect. Everyone who played the game gave some amazing feedback and we're going to implement everyone's great comments.

Here are some pictures of the day and please feel free to share if you're in them tagging @labwarsgame too :)