What it is
Open a game and choose Design Journal. It is the record of your design's whole life: every version you have tested, every run against it, and how the numbers moved from one version to the next.
You do not have to do anything to build it. Every session you run writes itself in.
Versions
A version is a table configuration you played against. The journal groups every run by its version and lists them newest first, so the version you are testing this week is at the top.
Each version shows:
- how many runs it got, and over what dates
- how many playtesters sat at the table
- average players per run
- average fun, clarity, pace, and balance scores, with the change against the version before it
- the spread of final scores, lowest to highest
- what share of playtesters said they would play it again
The change against the previous version is the point of the page. It is the answer to "did that change help?" It is always measured against the version that came before it in the design's life, whichever end of the list that version is shown at.
Naming a version
Every version starts out named after the date it was first played, like August 24, 2026. Double-click that name and type whatever you want: "Second printing rules", "After the trade nerf", "Protospiel build". It is your journal.
Renaming a version renames it everywhere it appears, and every later run against that same version inherits the name. Press Enter or choose Save to keep the new name, or press Escape or choose Cancel to leave it alone.
The name belongs to the journal, not to the table configuration, so renaming still works on an old version whose configuration you have since replaced.
Notes
Each version has its own notes. This is the part that makes it a journal rather than a log: what you changed, what you were trying to fix, and whether it worked.
Type into the box under a version and choose Add Note. Notes show who wrote them and when, can be edited later (an edited note says so), and can be deleted.
Notes are per version, so the reasoning sits next to the scores it explains. Notes taken during a session are different: those live on the run, in the session notebook.
Runs
Each version lists every one of its runs, newest first, however many there are. Open one to see its outcome, the survey answers, the session notes, and its marked moments. A run's session notes load when you open them.
There is no separate list of every run. A run is always shown under the version it was played against, because that is the only context in which its numbers mean anything.
The filters at the top of the page still apply. Narrow by date, player count, or outcome and the versions and their runs narrow with them.
Playtest analytics
On a game whose owner is on a Pro plan, every run is analyzed when its session ends. Open a run to see its Analytics: the components that were played and the ones nobody touched, who did the playing, the pacing and its quiet stretches, how the dice, counters and decks were used, the spaces pieces went to, what was changed during the test, and what was undone. Each version compares the components across its analyzed runs, and Analytics by player count shows how the runs went at each table size.
A run played before its game's owner moved to Pro has an Analyze button while its replay is kept. Playtest analytics come with the owner's Pro plan only: a Pro session does not add them. If the owner's plan ends, the reports already worked out are kept, and show again when they are back on Pro.
Marked moments keep a picture
To mark a moment, open the Session Notebook during play and press Mark Moment. The tags appear straight away. Pick one, write the note, and send it. You can also write the note first and press Mark Moment after, in which case picking the tag finishes it immediately.
Either way the button stays lit while you are marking, showing the tag you picked. A note sent without going through Mark Moment is an ordinary session note, not a marked moment.
When someone marks a moment at a table of a game whose owner is on Pro, or in a Pro session, Playtest Parlor also keeps a small picture of the table at that instant, felt and pieces and all. The picture appears with the note in the journal. Click it to see it full size.
Anywhere else the note is kept without a picture, and the journal shows where the picture would have been, with a link to the plans, until the game's owner moves to Pro or the run is made a Pro session. A picture already kept stays, whatever happens to the plan later.
This matters because a replay is kept for a day after its session ends (90 days on a Pro plan or in a Pro session) and the journal is kept for the life of the design. A year later the replay is gone, but the note and the picture of the table are still there.
Deleting a run deletes its pictures too, an hour later, and they stop counting toward the storage of whoever took them. A picture another run also shows is kept. A picture whose moment was never saved is deleted an hour after it was taken.
Imported runs
A game imported from a .pp archive brings its journal with it: every run, with its players, outcome, survey answers, marked moments and their pictures, and session notes. A run's replay and action log stay with the game it was played in, so an imported run is marked Imported where a replay would be.
It stays yours
The Design Journal is readable by anyone who can edit the game, whether or not you subscribe. It stays fully readable if you pause your subscription or let it lapse. Your design's evidence does not go behind a door. While a paused subscription's features are off, the journal is read-only: you can read every run but not rename, delete or add to them until you resume.
Export
Export CSV on the journal page gives you the survey responses, marked moments, session notes and stamp log of every run that matches the filters, so you can take the raw numbers anywhere.
Download a run's action log
While a run's replay is still available, its page has Log CSV and Log JSON. Either one downloads the run's full action log: every action in order, when it happened, which seat took it, a plain description such as "Seat 2 drew 3 cards from Deck A", and the names and ids of the pieces it touched. Actions someone undid are left out. The same download is in the Watch Replay panel at the table, and tools can fetch it through the Sessions API.
The log includes hidden information: every player's hand and the contents of restricted spaces. That is why only people who can edit the game can download it.
The log is kept as long as the replay: 24 hours after the session ends, or 90 days when the game's owner is on a Pro plan or the session is a Pro session. The run says when its replay expires. Download the log before then if you want to keep it.
Keep a replay
A run whose replay is still there but not kept has Keep this replay, for anyone who can edit the game and has a Pro session to spend. It makes the session a Pro session, so its replay and action log are kept 90 days after the session ended instead of a day, and the run then says the new date. A dialog first says that this uses one of your Pro sessions for good, how many you have left this year, and that a Table Reset ends a Pro session. On a Pro plan it uses none. The same button is in the Session Ended dialog at the table and beside Watching Replay when you open the replay. See What is a Pro session?.
A Reset Table on a table whose replay is kept ends its session, so the run and its replay stay here, and play goes on in a new session that gets a run of its own when it ends.
A session reopened at the table (Can I reopen a session after it ends?) keeps its one run here. When it ends again, the run is updated with the whole session, and its replay is kept 90 days from the new end.
Delete a replay
A kept replay holds on to the artwork its pieces show, and that art counts toward the game owner's storage until the replay expires. To free it sooner, open the run and choose Delete Replay. The replay and its action log are deleted for good, and players can no longer answer the run's survey; the run stays in the journal, with its results, survey answers, notes and pictures, marked Deleted where the replay was. A table still being played has no Delete Replay: end the session first.
Deleting the run with Delete deletes its replay too.