A complete, portable copy of a game
A Playtest Parlor Archive is a single .pp file that holds an entire game and everything in it: its table configurations with their pieces, spaces, annotations and automation, its reference resources, its playtest history, and every file stored in Playtest Parlor that any of it uses, bundled together: card and token art, 3D models, PDFs, book pages, die faces and drawings, the sharing image, and any picture linked from the game's description or survey. Because those files travel inside the archive, the imported game stores its own copy of each. It does not depend on the original game staying around: it keeps working after the original is deleted, and when the archive is imported on another Playtest Parlor site.
Watch a video walkthrough of exporting and importing a .pp archive.
The playtest history is every ended run in the game's Design Journal: who played, the winners and scores, every survey answer, the marked moments with their pictures, and the session notes. Play sessions themselves are not part of an archive: they are runs of a configuration, not part of the game itself. So a run's replay and its action log stay with the game it was played in, and an imported run shows as Imported in the journal instead of offering a replay.
A file on another site, such as a rulebook PDF that a Tabletop Simulator or Screentop import links to, is not bundled. The archive keeps its link, and the imported game links to the same place, so it keeps working only as long as that site keeps the file. An archive made before 29 September 2026 may carry such files; importing it stores the new game's own copy of each one it carries.
Use an archive to:
- keep a backup you can restore later
- move a game to another account
- hand a full game off to a collaborator
Export a .pp archive
Export from the game you want to save:
- Open the game and go to its Export tab.
- You will see an estimate of what the archive will contain.
- Choose Start Export. A progress bar tracks the work as it gathers records and packages assets.
- When it finishes, you get a summary of everything included and the
.ppfile downloads to your computer.
If a file the game uses was already deleted from storage, the export still finishes without it. The summary is headed Export Complete, Some Files Missing and lists each missing file with the pieces or resources that use it. Their links are kept as they were, so they show nothing, in this game and in a game imported from the file. To bring one back, add the file again where it is used, then export again. If a file could not be downloaded for another reason, such as a dropped connection, the export stops and says so; check your connection and export again.
Archives are format 2.0. For imported pieces, the archive carries each set of pieces as it is: uploads and changes made on the Import Pieces page are live at once, so they are always included, along with each deck's order, the pieces removed from a set that a table still shows, and the report of the latest Tabletop Simulator or Screentop import.
If an import or a piece copy is being applied to a set of imported pieces when you export, or the set changes while the export reads it, the export stops and says which set; export again once it has finished. That way an archive never holds half of a change.
Keep that file somewhere safe. It is the whole game in one place. If you are signed out while the export is running, it stops and asks you to sign in and export again. If Playtest Parlor could not be reached to renew your sign-in part way through, it says so instead; check your connection and export again.
Keep the page open until the export finishes. Only one export of a game runs at a time, so if you close or reload the page part way, starting another export says one is already running. That export counts as abandoned after half an hour, and you can then export again.
Import a .pp archive
Bring an archive back in from the Import button on the My Games page:
- Choose Import .pp file and select your
.ppfile. - A preview shows what is inside before anything is created, including the game name, when it was exported and by whom, the file size, and a breakdown of its contents, such as table configurations, pieces, spaces, annotations, and assets.
- Choose Import to proceed. A progress bar tracks each stage: first the bundled files are uploaded into your account, then the game's records are recreated using those uploaded copies.
If the file was made by a newer version of Playtest Parlor than the page you have open, the import asks you to reload the page and try again.
An archive made before 10 October 2026 may not carry every file its game uses: book pages, files added through the API or the upload panel, and a die face holding a copied image were left as links to the original game's files. The import downloads each of those that still exists and stores its own copy, so the imported game keeps working after the original is deleted. A file that can no longer be downloaded, because it was deleted, is listed in the result with what uses it (see If some files could not be copied). To get it back, add the file again where it is used.
Archives made before format 2.0 still import. Each set of imported pieces comes in as it was last published. Changes waiting in a draft that were never published are not imported, and the note after the import names the set they belonged to. A piece on a table that still showed an older version of an imported piece keeps showing it.
A table holds at most 2,000 table entities (how much a table can hold). If a table configuration in the archive holds more, the import names that table and how many it holds, and stops before it creates anything. Remove some of that table's pieces, spaces or notes in the game it came from, export it again, and import the new file.
Importing always creates a fresh game. It never overwrites an existing one, so you can safely restore a backup alongside your current work. The import only ever adds records to that new game, and you become its owner.
Keep the page open until the import finishes. If it stops part way, because the tab was closed, the connection dropped or a step failed, the new game is left incomplete and its card images cannot be finished later. Delete that game and import the file again.
After the import
When it finishes, you see how much was created and how many assets were brought across, plus a note about anything skipped. The result stays open until you choose Close or View Game. The archive carries each piece's original artwork, and the import makes the smaller display images from those originals in your new game, the same way an upload does. For a few moments after the import, a card in your custom assets can show as processing while its display image is made; cards cut from a Tabletop Simulator sheet are cut out again in the same way, and the result says "Cutting card faces from their sheets..." until they are. If that stops and cannot finish after a few tries, the result says "Preparing the imported art stopped before it finished." with the reason, and a Retry button that carries on from where it stopped; your new game is kept either way. If the server cannot take the Retry yet, the result says why beside it; once the cards are cut out, by your Retry or another editor's, the notice and that message go. If a card's original artwork is missing from the archive, that card's image is listed in the note. An archive made by an older version can contain play sessions; those are skipped, with the pieces, spaces and sequences on them, and each is listed once in that note with what it held. The table configurations beside them import as normal, and so does the playtest history of those sessions. Open the new game's Design Journal to see every run, each under the version it was played on. Open the new game to confirm it looks the way you expect, then continue testing.
A table configuration that was up to date with its imported pieces when the archive was made stays up to date. One that was behind brings its imported pieces up to date in full the first time it syncs: every imported piece on it is checked, not only the ones that changed.
If some files could not be copied
The archive's images, PDFs and 3D models are uploaded to your storage, along with any file an older archive links to but does not carry, which is downloaded first. A file that fails to download or upload is tried again, and only that file. If the upload limit was the problem, the import waits as long as the limit says before it tries again, and the progress bar tells you it is waiting. A problem that waiting cannot fix is not retried: a file over the 20 MB limit, or a full storage quota.
If some files still fail, the import still finishes, and the result says how many, for example "3 of 10 files could not be copied into this game." Under Skipped Items, each file is listed with what happened when it was tried, what to do about it, and the pieces or PDF resources that use it. Those items still use the file's original link, which stops working if the original is deleted or was on another site.
- For a file over 20 MB, make the file smaller than 20 MB, then set it on the piece by hand.
- For a file storage no longer has, add the file again where it is used.
- For anything else, fix the reason given (free some storage, wait out the limit, check your connection) and import the archive again.
If you are signed out during the import
Playtest Parlor renews your sign-in every few hours, and when you use it in another tab. An import or export that is running picks up the renewed sign-in and carries on. If you really are signed out while the import is running, it stops at once instead of carrying on, and says so. By then the new game may already exist with only part of its contents. Sign in, delete that partly imported game from My Games (its name starts with "Imported"), and import the archive again.
If the import stops because Playtest Parlor could not be reached to renew your sign-in, it says that instead of saying you are signed out. Check your connection, delete the partly imported game the same way, and import again.