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play-test

play-test is a tool for inspectors of bouncy castles and other inflatable play equipment. The industry often used manual spreadsheets, Word documents, or even carbon copy paper to log their tests. Fellow nerd Spencer from Elliott's Boucy Castle Hire made a Windows desktop app to speed the process up, and I translated it to the web while incorporating the EN 14960:2019 safety specs, making it multi-user, and writing a tonne of tests.

play-test inspection dashboard showing a list of inspections

My Solution

A primary goal was to make repeat inspections fast - measurements don't change much between tests, so the system remembers everything from the previous test and pre-fills the form fields. I wanted inspectors to always know what to do next, so the interface guides them through each step.

A tricky bit was turning EN 14960 safety specs into Ruby methods. Every calculation shows its working - you can even see the source code right there in the interface.

The platform is very open - each unit or inspection can be viewed by the public in both PDF and JSON formats, and data can be exported to CSV with one click.

Technical Details

play-test is built with modern Rails practices while keeping dependencies minimal:

  • Rails 8.0+ with SQLite for simplicity and reliability
  • Turbo for snappy interactions without much JavaScript complexity
  • Comprehensive test suite with 90% coverage using RSpec and Capybara
  • Semantic HTML + MVP.css for a clean, accessible interface
  • Docker support for easy deployment
  • Full internationalisation support built in
  • Progressive enhancement so it works without JavaScript

What's Next?

The software is free and open source, but I charge for hosting - either for individuals or whole companies who want their own branded version.

Future plans (based on what users actually want):

  • Owner logins to see their own test history
  • Email reminders for expiring tests
  • Better reports and stats
  • API for connecting to other systems

I'm being totally transparent about money and direction. I am a software developer, not a inflatable inspector or even a bouncy castle hirer, although I do have a lot of experience in that industry. For that reason, my aim is simply to make the best testing platform for the users of the platform - they should choose how it develops, not me.

Open Source

AGPLv3 licensed - use it, change it, share it, but share your improvements too. Safety tools should be accessible to everyone.

If you'd like an account on play-test, or you'd like me to make a similar open source project for your industry, please get in touch!