Most Pittsburgh Playtest events take place at the Simmons Auditorium in the Tepper Quad building.

Getting to the Simmons Auditorium:

There’s a large parking lot, called the Morewood Gardens Parking Lot outside the Carnegie Mellon Tepper Quad building where you can park for free on the weekends. The turn to enter this parking lot is on Morewood Avenue. You’ll drive through the open lot gates. Then you’ll enter the building at the main central entrance whose doors will be unlocked. Once inside, walk past the food court and down the stairs to Simmons Auditorium.

Tepper Quad in Google Maps
-> See it!: A video guide of the walk from the parking lot to the Simmons Auditorium

The Auditorium is typically split into two halves with an A side and a B side. Depending on day, Pittsburgh Playtest will typically be in one or the other. 

Simmons Auditorium A is straight ahead while for Simmons Auditorium B,  you’ll turn right at the front of the Auditorium and walk down the hall a bit before turning left into the Auditorium.

Most Pittsburgh Playtest events take place at Carnegie Mellon University in one of two locations:

The Simmons Auditorium in the Tepper Quad building or The McKenna|Peter|Wright Rooms in the Jared L. Cohon University Center

There’s a large parking lot, called the Morewood Gardens Parking Lot outside the Carnegie Mellon Tepper Quad building where you can park for free on the weekends.

The turn to enter this parking lot is on Morewood Avenue. You’ll drive through the open lot gates.

Tepper Quad in Google Maps

 This free lot is across the street (Forbes Ave. ) from the Jared L. Cohon University Center building where the McKenna|Peter|Wright rooms are located. 

There is also paid parking in the parking garage adjacent to the Jared L. Cohon University Center.

It’s a bit of a walk from the Morewood Gardents parking lot to the Simmons Auditorium. If you are looking to park closer to the auditorium, there is a very limited parking lot directly across the street from the building entrance that is right by the auditorium.

Anyone! If you are working on developing a game- whether it is digital or analog, for fun or for a class or to publish, just starting out or very far along – you are welcome to bring your game to playtest. This is a great opportunity to see your game played and to meet other folks making games in Pittsburgh.

Of course! We can’t guarantee what games will be at each event, but we often have designers that bring games that can be played by kids sometimes as young as 5. Remember that all minors must be accompanied by an adult.

No, if you’re coming to play games you’re welcome to leave early or come late. Games start on a rolling basis and most games take 45-90 minutes to playtest. We recommend coming no later than 2:30pm to have a good chance of playing at least one game.
If you’re bringing a game to playtest, you should arrive by 12:50pm and plan to stay until at least 4pm.

All of Carnegie Mellon’s buildings are wheelchair accessible. There is an elevator in the Tepper Quad building, where we normally meet.

As you will generally be in close proximity with other people around a table, this is a mask-friendly event. Attendees are welcome to wear a mask but masks are not required. We ask that if you are sick with anything potentially contagious, kindly refrain from attending until you have recovered. 

Playtest Pittsburgh is meant to be a welcoming and safe environment for everyone, whatever their background. We expect those attending to treat everyone with civility and respect.

We welcome and recognize personal pronouns.  

We welcome mask-wearing.

 We welcome different kinds of games and all different kinds of players.

We ask game creators to consider the content, themes, and mechanics of the games they bring to playtest and to give players adequate warning about content that may be upsetting or inappropriate for some players. We reserve the right to remove games if we feel their presence is not appropriate at this event.  Remember that we have attendees of all ages and from different backgrounds. We do allow adult-only or mature-theme games within reason for a public event, as determined by the event hosts. 

The goal of playtesting games is to help game creators answer questions about their game experience and improve upon it. When giving feedback, be honest and kind. Remember that the game creator has their own a vision for their game. You role is not to “fix” their game , it is to help them see their game’s strengths and weaknesses from players’ perspectives.

When receiving feedback be open and appreciative.
Take in comments and reflect on how you might use them to strengthen the game experience you are creating. You don’t have to agree with feedback or suggestions. You should assume that playtesters are sharing their honest personal perspective, and trying to be helpful based on their experience with your game. 

If you are bringing a game to playtest, then you must RSVP by the Friday before the event date in order to be guaranteed  table.

If you are coming to play games, you are not required to RSVP but we highly encourage it as it helps with our planning.