New generation cast and wrought nickel-based superalloys exhibit significantly better mechanical properties and higher temperature capability than conventional grades, such as Alloy 718. However, their improved properties come at the expense of new processing challenges. These grades sit at the edge of cast and wrought processability, have very narrow forging windows, and often show extensive surface cracking during hot die forging. Surface cracking poses a major problem in industrial practice, but the scientific understanding of this phenomenon is hampered by the difficulty of replicating this process in a laboratory setting. In this work, a novel laboratory-scale experimental method is presented to investigate forgeability in new generation cast and wrought superalloys. This new approach makes possible appraising the prevalence and severity of surface cracking by mimicking the die chilling effects characteristic of hot die forging. Two different high $\gamma'$-reinforced alloys are used to explore this methodology. A Gleeble thermo-mechanical simulator is used to conduct hot compression tests following the non-isothermal cycles shown in Figure 1, with the aim to simulate the cooling of the surface near regions during the forging process. FEA simulations, sample geometry design and microstructural analyses are used to ensure the correspondence between laboratory- and real-scale forging. A wide range of surface cracking results were obtained for different forging temperatures, cooling rates and microstructures, proving the soundness of the method. Surprisingly, samples heated up to higher initial temperatures typically show more extensive surface cracking and the results are highly dependent on the initial microstructure. These findings indicate that – along with the local mechanical conditions of the forging – die-chilling effects and forging temperatures are paramount in controlling surface cracking, as they dictate key process variables governing the distribution and kinetics of $\gamma'$. The novel methodology has both scientific and industrial relevance since it allows studying hot die forging without resorting to lengthy and expensive real scale trials and provides new insights on the physical mechanisms leading to surface cracking. Thus, it paves the way towards designing superalloys with improved processability and excellent mechanical performance.