Playtest Parlor

A quick look at how Playtest Parlor, Tabletop Simulator, Screentop.gg, PlayingCards.io, and in-person playtesting stack up across the features that matter for game development.

Scorecard

Each cell shows the total score for that category. Green = best in category, red = worst in category.

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Getting testers to the table	14	4	11	11	12
Playtesting tools	18	5	0	0	4
Game components	28	22	11	12	24
Automation	10	10	0	3	2
Asset management	10	6	5	2	N/A
Table and visual tools	12	11	4	2	9
Networking and reliability	8	2	8	6	N/A
Game development workflow	12	6	6	2	4
Communication	10	5	0	0	6
Pricing	6	4	7	8	10

2 = fully supported 1 = partial or limited 0 = not available

Getting testers to the table

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Browser-based (no install)	2	0	2	2	2
Free for testers	2	0	2	2	2
No account required	2	0	2	2	2
Mobile support	2	0	1	1	2
16+ players	2	0	0	2	2
Spectator support	2	2	2	0	2
No geographic limits	2	2	2	2	0

Playtesting tools

	PP	TTS	In Person
Live Markup (digital Sharpie)	2	2	2
Playtest records	2	0	0
Post-session surveys	2	0	0
Session replay	2	0	0
Marked moments	2	0	0
Event logging	2	0	0
Session notebook	2	1	0
Game resources (attach PDFs, videos)	2	2	2
Body language observation	0	0	2

Game components

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Cards and tiles	2	2	2	2	2
Decks and stacks	2	2	2	2	2
Dice	2	2	2	2	2
Counters	2	2	2	2	2
Timers	2	2	0	2	2
Spinners	2	0	0	1	2
Action buttons	2	2	0	2	0
3D tokens and pawns	2	2	0	0	2
Shaped tiles	2	2	1	0	2
Bags and bowls	2	2	1	0	2
Sleeves (card crafting)	2	0	0	0	2
Boards and spaces	2	2	2	1	2
Annotations	2	2	0	0	2
Coins	2	2	1	0	2

Automation

	PP	TTS	PCIO	In Person
No-code automation	2	0	2	0
Code scripting	0	2	0	0
Conditional logic	2	2	0	0
Reactive triggers	2	2	0	0
Player prompts	2	2	1	2
Sub-sequence composition	2	2	0	0

Asset management

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Managed image hosting	2	2	2	0	N/A
Individual image upload	2	2	1	0	N/A
Asset optimization	2	0	0	0	N/A
The Game Crafter import	2	0	0	0	N/A
No prototype printing cost	2	2	2	2	0

Table and visual tools

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Custom table background	2	2	2	2	2
Measure tool	2	1	0	0	1
Freehand annotations	2	2	0	0	2
Snap-to-point	2	2	2	0	N/A
Auto-orient to player	2	0	0	0	0
Mini-map navigation	2	0	0	0	0
Physics simulation	0	2	0	0	2
Full 3D environment	0	2	0	0	2

Networking and reliability

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Server-authoritative	2	0	2	2	N/A
Survives host disconnect	2	0	2	2	N/A
Persistent state	2	0	2	2	0
No room expiration	2	2	2	0	N/A

Game development workflow

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Real-time collaboration	2	1	1	0	2
Role-based permissions	2	1	1	0	0
Version tracking	2	0	1	0	0
Full undo/redo	2	1	0	0	0
Recoverable trash	2	0	0	0	0
Player presence indicators	2	1	1	0	2
Community game library	0	2	2	2	N/A

Communication

	PP	TTS	In Person
Voice chat	2	2	2
Text chat	2	2	2
Video	2	0	2
Screen sharing	2	0	0
Persistent chat history	2	1	0

Pricing

	PP	TTS	Screentop	PCIO	In Person
Free to create	1	0	2	2	2
Free to play	2	0	2	2	2
No ads	2	2	2	0	2
No game count limits	1	2	0	2	2
Core features not paywalled	0	0	1	2	2

Playtest Parlor is free for one game on Starter, $18 a year for five games on Casual, and $9 a month or $84 a year for unlimited games on Pro. Marked moments keep a picture of the table on Pro, or in a Pro session. Testers always play free.

Click any column header to read the full comparison.