Getting the most out of The Game Shelf

Adding games

Add Game opens a form with BoardGameGeek search built right in. Start typing a title, pick the right edition, and most of the fields (players, playtime, designer, cover art) fill themselves in.

Sync BGG Collection pulls your whole BoardGameGeek collection in one shot, by username. It asks once and remembers it after that. It only adds games you don't already have, so it's safe to run again any time you pick something new up.

Fill In From BGG goes back through games already on your shelf that are missing details and fills in whatever it can find.

The small barcode icon next to the Name field opens your camera and scans the box's barcode — it looks up the retail product name and runs the same BGG search, so you still pick the right match instead of typing the title out. Coverage isn't perfect (board games are a small slice of what that barcode database tracks), so if a scan comes up empty, just search by name instead.

Finding things

Use the search box, the type filter, the player-count filter, or the A to Z jump bar along the top of the grid. Sort by name or by your own rating.

Game DNA

A radar chart of your whole collection across six axes: complexity, playtime, party size, variety, how modern your shelf skews, and how much co-op you own. A quick way to actually see your own taste instead of just assuming you know it.

You vs. the crowd

Compares your own ratings against BoardGameGeek's community rating for the same games, surfacing your hidden gems (rated well above the crowd) and the games that just aren't your thing (rated well below).

Compare collections

Enter any BoardGameGeek username, yours, a friend's, anyone's, to see the overlap between their BGG collection and your shelf. What you both own, and what they have that might be worth a look. Works with any username at all, not just people who've signed up here.

Log Session

Pick a date and game (or search BGG to log something you played but don't own), add every player who was there, mark who won, and optionally track scores. Free-text names work fine for anyone who isn't on the site, or tag a linked friend directly.

Playing a team game? Each player row has an optional team tag, a small colored dot with six preset colors. It's purely visual, a way to see at a glance who was on which side when you look back at the session later. It doesn't touch who's marked as the winner or any of the stats, belts, or leaderboard math, which all still work off individual wins the same way they always have.

Quick-pick players & rematch

The player list remembers who you actually play with. One-tap chips above the player rows fill in your most frequent opponents, so you're not retyping the same three or four names every single session.

Already logged a session? Its entry in your history has a rematch button that reopens the form with the same game and the same roster, today's date, scores cleared. For the nights you end up playing the same thing twice in a row.

Parties

A step up from the quick-pick chips: build a roster in the player rows, then "Save as Party" to name and keep it, "Friday Night Crew," or whatever fits. Next time, "Load a party" fills in every row in one click instead of adding people one at a time. It only remembers who's in the group and any friend link, never scores or who won, since those change every night. Manage Parties lists everything you've saved with a one-click delete.

Session photos

Attach a handful of photos to any session as you log it, or add them later. They show up as a thumbnail strip on that session's entry, and click through to a full-size lightbox. A quick visual record of the actual night, not just the score.

What you get from it

Most Played, a Shelf of Shame, a full play-activity heatmap, monthly charts, head-to-head records against specific people, win rate by game, and a period-vs-period comparison tool.

Tonight's Pick

Can't decide what to play? This spinner picks randomly from your own collection. Filter by player count first if you've got a specific-sized group.

Silas, the Game Steward

A little concierge sitting on the Collection tab. Describe the mood, quick game for two, big group and low complexity, co-op for date night, or just whatever's actually in your head, and it'll come back with exactly one real game off your own shelf, and why.

Wrapped

A personal year-in-review tucked near the bottom of the page. Sessions logged, games played, your win rate, your most-played game, your top-rated review, all wrapped into a shareable slideshow with an image you can actually download. It's yours alone, whenever you go looking for it.

Linking a friend

Enter their email under Friends to send a request. They need an account here too. Once accepted, you can tag them directly when logging a session, which is what unlocks everything below.

Friend Activity

A running feed of recent plays and reviews from friends who've made their own collection public, plus any belt you've personally won or lost. It's the same "public or your own" rule as everywhere else on the site: a friend who hasn't gone public shows up here exactly like a stranger would, nothing more.

Game Nights

Propose a night before it happens instead of just logging it after: pick a date and time, an optional game and location, and invite whichever friends you want. Everyone invited sees the full guest list and can RSVP Yes, No, or Maybe. As the host, you can cancel a night from the same panel.

Belts

For every game you've played against a linked friend, whoever won most recently holds the belt, a medallion that flips the moment the other person wins next. It moves. That's the whole point.

Right after a session where you beat a linked friend, you'll get an option to send them a shareable trophy card marking the win. Both of you end up with a copy.

Leaderboard

Ranks everyone you've linked as a friend by sessions played together or by your record against them, plus a "biggest upset" callout if a friend who's generally behind you overall still holds a belt at some specific game.

Achievements

53 embossed medallions on the Players tab, tracking real milestones: sessions logged, reviews written, games owned, and money spent (several with multiple tiers, from a first taste up to a serious milestone), but also the things unique to this site, like hosting a game night, matching up with a friend at the same convention, or holding a head-to-head belt. Each one sits locked and dull until you actually earn it, then it lights up for good and stays that way, even if the thing that earned it later stops being true. A friend with a public collection can see your unlocks show up in their Activity Feed, the same way a session or a review does.

• First Blood -- log your first session.
• First Win -- win your first logged session.
• Warming Up -- log 10 sessions.
• On a Roll -- log 50 sessions.
• Century Club -- log 100 sessions.
• Old Hand -- log 250 sessions.
• Living Legend -- log 500 sessions.
• First Impressions -- write your first review.
• Critic -- write 10 reviews.
• Prolific Critic -- write 25 reviews.
• Voice of the Table -- write 50 reviews.
• Getting Started -- own 10 games.
• Collector -- own 50 games.
• Hoarder -- own 100 games.
• Vault Keeper -- own 200 games.
• Completionist -- play every game you currently own at least once.
• The Explorer -- play 5 different game types.
• Getting Curious -- own games across 3 different game types.
• Well-Rounded -- own games across 6 different game types.
• Heavyweight Champion -- own a game rated 4.5+ complexity.
• Social Butterfly -- play with 5 different people.
• Big Spender -- spend $500 total on games.
• High Roller -- spend $1,000 total on games.
• Bargain Hunter -- sell a game for more than you paid.
• Wish Granted -- move a wishlist game into your collection.
• Chair Saved -- host your first game night.
• Full House -- every invitee RSVPs yes to a night you host.
• The Regular -- host 5 game nights.
• Party Planner -- host 15 game nights.
• Life of the Party -- host 30 game nights.
• House Call -- RSVP yes to a game night a friend hosts.
• On the Road -- log your first convention.
• Con Veteran -- log 5 conventions.
• Con Circuit -- log 10 conventions.
• Found Each Other -- a friend's convention attendance matches yours.
• Convention Buddy -- match up with a friend at 3 different conventions.
• Royal Rumble -- 3 or more friends turn up at the same convention as you.
• Photo Album -- post photos across 3 different conventions.
• It Meant Enough -- receive your first trophy card.
• Gracious Winner -- win a trophy exchange with a linked friend.
• Belt Holder -- hold a head-to-head belt against a friend.
• Three-Peat -- hold belts against 3 different rivals at once.
• Grand Slam -- hold belts against 5 different rivals at once.
• Belt Swap -- lose a belt to a rival, then win it back from them.
• Rematch -- play the same game against the same friend 5 times.
• Steel Cage Match -- play the same game against the same friend 20 times.
• Nemesis -- a friend holds a losing record over you, 3+ games.
• Minion -- hold a dominant record over a friend, 3+ games.
• Champion -- win more of one game than anyone else you've played it with.
• Ten Times In -- finish a 10x10 Challenge game.
• Not Alone -- link your first friend.
• Circle of Friends -- link 5 friends.
• Community Builder -- link 10 friends.

What should we play?

A button on each linked friend's card that cross-references your collection against theirs and lists everything you both own, using the narrower of your two player-count ranges so whatever comes up will actually work for game night.

Notifications

The bell in the nav bar tracks incoming friend requests and belt flips you haven't seen yet. Open it to accept or decline requests inline without leaving whatever tab you're on.

Profile photo

Also under Sharing: upload a photo to replace the plain initial circle next to your name. It follows you everywhere your name shows up to other people, Friends, the Leaderboard, and the Activity feed, and it's entirely optional.

Making your collection public

Under Sharing on the Players tab, turn "Make my collection public" on, then use Copy My Public Link. Anyone with that link can browse your shelf, sessions, and reviews. Read-only. Nothing they can edit, and nothing shared until you flip that switch yourself.

Weekly digest email

Also under Sharing: "Email me a weekly recap" sends a Sunday newsletter covering your sessions and record, any belts won or lost, new friend connections, blog posts or reviews you published that week, and whatever's currently trending on BoardGameGeek. Opt in whenever you want. Every email has an unsubscribe link too, in case it turns out not to be your thing.

Push notifications

Also under Sharing: "Push notifications on this device" turns on real-time alerts for the moments that need a quick response, a friend request, a trophy someone sent you, a game night invite, or an RSVP to a night you're hosting. Nothing else pings you, comments and reactions stay bell-only. It's per-device, so turn it on separately on your phone and your laptop if you want both.

One browser-specific quirk worth knowing: on Windows, Microsoft Edge routes notifications through its own delivery service, and on some machines that service just doesn't reliably deliver them, even though the toggle turns on successfully. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari don't have this issue. If push notifications don't seem to be arriving on Edge, try Chrome instead before assuming something's wrong with your account.

Wishlist

Track games you don't own yet. Trending Right Now surfaces BoardGameGeek's current hot list for inspiration, and any wishlist item can be moved straight into your collection once you pick it up.

Games In/Out

A running ledger of what you've bought, sold, or traded, with prices. Useful if you ever want an honest answer to how much you've actually spent on this hobby (I didn't, for a long time).

Conventions

Log conventions you've attended or have coming up, with notes. Below your list, "Find a Convention Near You" searches live listings from Tabletop.Events — use your location or type a city/ZIP, and it'll surface upcoming conventions within 300 miles, sorted by distance, each linking straight back to the real event page. Found one you want to go to? One click adds it to your list above, prefilled and ready to save.

If a friend with a public collection has logged the same convention (same name, overlapping dates), you'll see them on the card too — "So-and-so is also going." Photos work the same way: add photos to a convention entry and anyone else attending it can see them right alongside yours, no separate album or sharing step needed.

10x10 Challenge

Pick up to ten games from your collection and try to play each one ten times in a year. It's an old hobby tradition for actually working through your shelf instead of reaching for the same five games every time.

Insights

Six small dashboards built from your collection's BoardGameGeek data crossed with your own play history: a cost-per-play leaderboard, a weight-vs-plays scatter plot, a weight-distribution breakdown, your most common mechanics and categories, a publication-year timeline, and how well your shelf's player-count range actually matches the group sizes you play at. Everything here reads off fields BGG already provides, so the more complete your collection data is (see Fill In From BGG above), the more these fill in.

Reviews

Rate and write up any game on your shelf. These feed into your Wrapped recap and your public profile, if you've made your collection public.

Blog

Game-night recaps and longer posts of mine, published site-wide. This is the one section that's mine specifically rather than tied to your own account.

Game Stores tab

A curated list of local game stores I actually trust, plus a free "near me" search pulling from OpenStreetMap. Enter a location, or use where you already are, and it'll surface shops tagged nearby. Coverage depends entirely on how well a given area's been tagged, so think of it as a good starting point, not a complete directory.

Install it on your phone or desktop

On Chrome, Edge, or Android, you'll see a banner offering to install the site as an app. One tap adds it to your home screen or app list, no app store involved. On iPhone, open the site in Safari, tap the Share icon, then "Add to Home Screen." That last part only works in Safari specifically, it won't show up in other iOS browsers.

Recently added

Nemesis, Minion & Champion. Three new achievement badges built from your full head-to-head history against linked friends, not just the most recent belt: Nemesis is whoever holds the worst record against you (3+ games), Minion is the mirror, and Champion fires when you've won more of one specific game than anyone else you've played it with.

53 achievements, up from 32. Most of the growth is tiered ladders on milestones already tracked, sessions logged, reviews written, games owned, money spent, game nights hosted, conventions attended, belts held, friends linked, so a first taste and a serious milestone both get their own medallion instead of one flat target.

Team tags. An optional colored dot per player when logging a team game, purely a visual grouping so you can tell who was on which side when you look back later. It never touches who's marked as the winner or any of the stats, belts, or leaderboard math.

Parties. Save a regular group's roster once, then load the whole thing into the session form in one click instead of re-adding the same four names every time.

Insights. A new tab of six BGG-metadata dashboards — cost per play, weight vs. plays, weight distribution, top mechanics/categories, a publication-year timeline, and player-count coverage against your actual group sizes. Nothing else in this comparison set surfaces this kind of cross-cut of collection metadata against real play history.

Where it's genuinely ahead

The AI game-night concierge, a free local game-store finder, generated shareable content (trading cards, session recaps, a yearly Wrapped), a proactive weekly digest email, a six-panel BGG-metadata Insights dashboard, and a formal WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit — nothing in the comparison set has any of these. On gamification specifically, it's not the highest badge count (see below), but it's the only tracker where achievements are tied to real relational moments — a game night hosted, a convention meetup with a friend, a rivalry won or lost — rather than pure play-count milestones.

Where competitors still lead

Board Games Tracker is the closest peer overall and, re-checked against its current features page, still ahead on two fronts: 90+ achievements across 10 categories (versus 53) and comments on friends' logged results with a unified notification inbox. Its Parties and Team Mode are no longer distinguishing — this site now has close equivalents of both. BGStats/NemeStats together have true two-way BGG sync for collection status and tags; this site's BGG integration is still import-only in both directions. BoardGameGeek's sheer scale, forums, marketplace, millions of users, isn't a fair target for a personal site and was never the goal.

The ranking, by feature coverage

Scored across 17 comparable features (collection tracking, session logging, BGG sync, achievements, head-to-head/rivalry, push notifications, social features, photos, shareable content, an AI concierge, store discovery, a digest email, public profiles, installability, a BGG-metadata insights dashboard, and an accessibility audit), each worth full or half credit depending on how complete the feature is. Re-run against each site's current state — Board Games Tracker's features page, NemeStats' and BGStats' own sites — confirms none of the other ten have added a metadata-analytics dashboard of any kind, which is now this site's single clearest differentiator:

• 1. The Game Shelf — 97.1%
• 2. Board Games Tracker — 58.8%
• 3. NemeStats — 47.1%
• 4. Meeplay — 35.3%
• 5. BoardGameGeek — 25.0%
• 6. BGStats — 23.5%
• 7. iCollect Everything — 20.6%
• 7. BG Catalog — 20.6%
• 9. KallaX — 17.6%
• 10. BoardRecord — 11.8%
• 11. Meepster — 5.9%

This is a feature-count score, not a popularity or usability score — BoardGameGeek ranks low here specifically because most of these rows measure things a database-and-forum site was never trying to do. Every site's percentage shifted slightly down from the last pass simply because the denominator grew from 16 to 17 features when the Insights dashboard was added as its own scored row; only this site earns credit on that row. Take it as a snapshot from one comparison pass, not a permanent scoreboard; the landscape moves.