The purpose of this thesis is first to conceptualize a digital toolset to facilitate cooperation among board game designers in the process of game development and playtesting, and second, to observe the use of such a toolset and to evaluate whether it is suitable for further development. To carry out my investigation I evaluated existing software and based on my experience as a board game designer and organizer of a board game meetup group I designed a toolset that I believe could assist in the enterprise. I then play-tested the toolset during a six-week testing period involving 13 tabletop game designers recruited from tabletop game design "Meetup" groups on Meetup.com. Three virtual play-testing meetings were held to allow these study participants to play-test each other's games using a toolset consisting of the commercially available Tabletop Simulator, a companion application, Card Creator, and website, prototypegamer.com, the last two of which I built to complete the set. The test group was comprised of members of various U.S. tabletop gaming communities found on Meetup.com. The theoretical framework for the design of the thesis project is informed by the writings of Pierre Levy, Beth Coleman's concept of X-Reality, and Clay Shirky's cognitive surplus. Data collected included pre-study and post-study questionnaires and online behavioral observations of the participants during the testing session. Results indicate the use of Tabletop Simulator in conjunction with Card Creator and prototypegamer.com encouraged participants to consider incorporating digital prototyping and play-testing tools when designing future tabletop games.M.S., Digital Media -- Drexel University, 201
