Alpha games: general information (read this first)

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Recently we have opened a new process for the community to help us qualify new games to be released as high quality game adaptations on BGA!


Are you a really experienced BGA player?
(you have tried many different games? you have played a lot of games in total? you have a good seniority and a perfect reputation?)

• You can go to the "BGA reviewer" page to volunteer and get access to the list of games available for alpha-testing;
• You can start a review for a game, then play with fellow reviewers from the "BGA reviewer" group, and provide feedback;
• When you are satisfied that the game is a quality adaptation ready to be released, you can give it your approval.

Please note that this is not just a classic user review! It's an expert player review, and you are giving your greenlight to the game when you give your approval. We count on you to provide constructive criticism and suggestions to the developer so that they can make the improvements needed for their adaptation to be on par with the best on BGA! (But if it's already really good, that's great! Just give it a 5 star approval right away of course!)

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Are you just passionate about one of the games being tested?

• You can reach out to the developer (the player who announced the game in this forum) in this forum or by private message;
• If they need more testers, they will add you to the private group for the game. Then you will be able to play, and make suggestions or bug reports (as usual, by providing the table number so that the report is linked to the game);
• And of course, you can discuss the games here in this forum!

The list of games available for review will grow progressively as we move the games developed on BGA studio to "alpha" status. There has been a lot of developer activity in the studio during the last few weeks.



Here is a quick Q&A to sum up the BGA game development cycle:

~~ Q: When does a developer start a new project on BGA studio? A: Whenever they want! (just please ask studio@boardgamearena.com if you are unsure about the license or if you need image assets)
~~ Q: When does a a project move from the studio to "Alpha"? A: When the developer thinks it's ready!
~~ Q: When does a project move from "Alpha" to "Beta"? A: When the BGA reviewers and the publisher/designer think it's ready!
~~ Q: When is a project announced on the BGA social media (and on the front page for outstanding projects) to graduate from "Beta"? A: When the BGA team thinks it's a good idea AND when there is some space available on BGA communication channels!

The goal of this process is to allow new games to reach a larger player audience as soon as they match the requested quality, and to benefit later from some added visibility through an announcement for an extra boost.