Studio News · September 11, 2026
Five labels, one purpose
Every game on Disrupt Games has a status. That status is not a quality score, a marketing badge, or a promise that a design will never change again. It is a practical statement about where the game is right now: how settled the design is, what kind of feedback is useful, whether a publishing conversation is open, and who is responsible for maintaining the release.
Game development is rarely a straight line. A design can be completely playable and still need major work. Another can be mechanically mature but waiting for the right publishing home. A self-published game can be stable without being frozen forever. The labels below are meant to make those differences visible instead of hiding everything behind a vague word like “prototype.”
In Development
Playable does not mean settled.
An In Development game is actively being built or revised. The central idea may already work, but mechanisms, scoring, player counts, components, pacing, or presentation can still change substantially. Sometimes the right playtest result at this stage is not “tune a number.” It is “replace the system.”
What this means for you: expect movement. You can absolutely play the game, but do not assume today’s rules or files represent the eventual form.
Current examplePIP CycleA racing design in the PIP family whose system is still being shaped and refined.See PIP Cycle →
Playtesting
Stable enough to be challenged by other tables.
Playtesting means the design has enough structure that outside feedback is especially valuable. The rules are coherent, the intended experience is visible, and I need people who did not design the game to expose the problems that familiarity can hide: confusing rules, edge cases, pacing issues, dominant choices, weak decisions, or simply moments where the table stops having fun.
What this means for you: this is the best stage for detailed play reports. “We liked it” is pleasant; where you hesitated, argued over a rule, found an exploit, or wanted the game to end is far more useful.
Current exampleFirewallA four-player team trick-taker being tested for clarity, balance, and how its attack-and-defense decisions hold up outside my own table.See Firewall →
Seeking Publisher
The design is mature. The publishing path is still open.
A Seeking Publisher game has moved beyond early development and ordinary exploratory testing. I believe the core design is strong enough to present professionally, explain clearly, and put in front of a publisher as a serious project. That does not mean every component, illustration, rule sentence, or production choice is locked. A publisher should have room to develop a game with me rather than inherit something I refuse to touch.
What this means for you: players should expect a substantially formed design. Publishers should read this label as an invitation to start a conversation.
Current exampleLost RanksA mature trick-taking design presented as a publishing opportunity rather than an early-stage experiment.See Lost Ranks →
Self-Published
Disrupt Games is responsible for the release.
Self-Published means I am not currently looking for another company to publish that title. Disrupt Games is maintaining the public version directly: the rules, downloadable material, corrections, and presentation live here under the studio’s control.
This label replaced the older Produced status because “produced” said very little about who actually stood behind the release. Self-Published is explicit. It also does not mean “finished forever.” A maintained game can receive corrections or thoughtful improvements without being thrown back into exploratory development.
What this means for you: you are looking at a current Disrupt Games release, and this site is the authoritative place to get its rules and files.
Current examplePIP ZeroA directly maintained Disrupt Games release with its current rules and resources kept on the game page.See PIP Zero →
Retired
Not in active work right now, but still part of the catalog.
Not every design needs to be endlessly revised. A Retired game is not being actively worked on right now. I may keep its page available because old designs show where ideas came from, because someone may still enjoy playing it, or because design history has value even when a project is no longer going anywhere commercially.
What this means for you: treat the page as a stable, currently inactive design. Where playable material remains available, use it as-is; do not read the game as a current development commitment or publishing solicitation.
Retired exampleRoyal FamilyA retired design whose page and rules remain available at their permanent URL.See Royal Family →
Why I changed the labels
The older catalog grew organically. It accumulated terms such as Active Playtesting, Produced, Prototype, and project-specific notes. Those descriptions were not necessarily wrong, but they did not form one consistent lifecycle. Two games could be in almost the same place and carry different language simply because their pages were written at different times.
The point is not to make game development look neater than it really is. It is to make the messy middle legible. If a game moves forward, backward, or sideways because testing uncovers something important, its status can move too. The label describes the current state; it does not trap the design there.
How to use these labels
Players
Use the status to judge how much change to expect before you invest time in learning or printing a game.
Playtesters
Look for Playtesting when you want your table report to have the greatest immediate development value.
Reviewers
Frame what you are evaluating correctly. An In Development design and a Self-Published release should not be treated as the same kind of artifact.
Publishers
Seeking Publisher identifies designs I believe are ready for a serious publishing conversation. The publisher page collects the studio-facing context.
The game page is the current truth
This article explains what the labels mean. The status shown on an individual game page tells you where that design is today. As games change, those pages change with them.
That is the real purpose of the system: fewer assumptions, clearer expectations, and a catalog that tells players, playtesters, reviewers, and publishers what they are actually looking at.