Contents
Getting Started
Board Record is an app for recording your board game plays with a focus on creating and sharing advanced scoresheets. You can view the scoresheets other users have uploaded from the scoresheets menu at the top of this page.
Continue reading below for a walkthrough of the main features of the app, or jump to a specific topic from the contents list.
Managing Your Collection
Adding a New Game
To add a new game, go to the Games list page from the main menu and tap the New Game button. From this screen, game details can be entered and a scoresheet created.
After entering a title, finding and linking the game with its BoardGameGeek entry will automatically fill in data (box art, player counts, play duration, etc.). This will then also allow plays to be logged to BGG.
Expansions can be added and linked to create a game group. More advanced scoresheets can be created from the Scoresheet list at the bottom of the page.
Game Groups & Expansions
Select games to be added to a game group. Games in the same group can be more easily assigned as expansions when recording plays.
Board Record does not enforce a concept of game hierarchy (i.e., Base Game & Expansions) — any game can be played as a base game and any game can be assigned as an expansion play to any other game. This supports games like Dominion where some expansions are standalone.
To add expansions: from the Edit Game screen tap Select Expansions…. The In Group list shows current expansions; the Collection list shows the rest. Tap a game to move it between lists, then save.
Game Notes
You can enter any notes to be viewed when setting up a play of this game — for example, setup instructions or commonly looked-up rules.
Game Tags
Custom user-defined tags can be added to games to be used to filter lists, stats, and the Game Picker.
Recording Plays
Starting a Play
Tap the Start Play button to bring up a list of games in your collection to play.
Adding Players
Tap the Choose Players button on the play screen to add players. Anonymous players can be added to record scores and player counts for statistics without tracking player-specific stats.
Determining the Winner
Depending on the win condition of the scoresheet, the winning player may be calculated automatically. To override, or if the win condition is set to manual, tap the meeple silhouette next to the player's name in the scoresheet.
Setting a Location
Tap the Set Location… link on the play screen to add a location to a play.
Expansions
Tap the Set Expansion… link on the play screen to add an expansion to a play. The play will only be recorded for the base game and not the expansions. However, the expansion will have its expansion play count incremented and expansion play stats can be viewed.
Roles
To assign roles during a play, tap the Define Roles button. When a game has roles defined, a Set Role… link will be added to the scoresheet for each player.
Each player within a play can have multiple roles assigned to them. Stats can then be viewed for each role individually or as a combined entity.
Play Tags
To add a tag to a play, tap the + button next to the tag icon below the scoresheet. Plays can have multiple tags assigned. Tags can be added to record events during a play or describe how a game ended, in order to collect stats about how games are won and lost.
For example, for Spirit Island, wins could be: Terror I, Terror II, Terror III, Fear. Losses could be: Spirit Death, Blight, Time.
Digital Plays
Check the digital toggle to indicate this is a digital play (e.g., a game played on Tabletop Simulator or Board Game Arena). This can then be filtered on.
Not My Copy
If you own this game but aren't playing your copy, you can set that here. This play won't then be used in price-per-play or price-per-hour calculations.
Scoresheets
Scoresheets are the core feature of Board Record. They allow you to enter more detailed score data than just the final score. When adding a new game you will want to define a scoresheet for it or download one someone else has already created.
Each game can have multiple scoresheets. If a game has multiple play modes, define separate scoresheets for each. Scoresheets created on an expansion can also be selected when that expansion is included in a play of the base game.
Basic Options
- Has Points — Defines whether you can record points. If false, all stats related to points are hidden.
- Is Co-op — All players win or lose together. Win stats will be shown as players vs game.
- Single Score — All players share a single score (must be a co-op game). Only one score needs to be set and all players are assigned that score.
- Win Condition — How the winner is calculated: Manual, Highest Score, Lowest Score, No Winner, or Target Score (any player exceeding the target wins).
- Allow Choosing Start Player — If unchecked, hides the start player option when creating a play.
Scoresheet Rows (Rounds)
Press the + / − buttons to add or remove rounds. A round can be an actual game round (e.g., Jaipur) or a scoring category (e.g., 7 Wonders). Each round can be given a name and a colour.
The Total Round Score setting controls how rounds are tallied:
- Aggregate — Total score is the sum of all rounds (e.g., 7 Wonders scoring categories).
- Best Of — Total score is the number of rounds won (e.g., Jaipur best of 3).
- Manual — No automatic calculation of total score or winners.
Manual Reveal Total Scores — Adds a button that hides total scores until pressed, preventing spoilers during play.
Indefinite Rounds
Indefinite rounds allow you to dynamically add rounds to the scoresheet during a play. Pressing the add button during a play duplicates the last round.
Copying a Scoresheet
Use Copy From to copy the settings from another scoresheet. This is useful for creating expansion scoresheets that share most of the same properties, or for removing rounds from a scoresheet that already has plays assigned to it.
Advanced Scoring
Each scoresheet round has advanced scoring options accessible via the gear icon on a round. This is available only for premium users.
Score
The standard input. Just enter a number. Can be whole numbers, negatives, and decimals.
Win Condition
Adds a checkbox to toggle if a certain win condition was met. Defines the winner on aggregate scoresheets or the round winner on best-of scoresheets. The Game Stats page then shows a win condition breakdown.
Checkbox
Adds a checkbox that assigns a set number of points when checked. E.g., the 7×7 token in Patchwork worth 7 points. The Game Stats page then shows a breakdown of checkbox scores.
Modifier
Defines a modifier in the form of X things = Y points. E.g., in 7 Wonders every 3 coins is worth 1 point. The Per Player toggle multiplies X by the player count (e.g., Spirit Island Dahan scoring).
Value
Allows entering a value which is not used when calculating the total score. Otherwise has the same input rules as Score rounds. Can be referened by complex rounds and will still be displayed in the stats breakdown for that round.
Lookup
Define a lookup table with a list of values or ranges with corresponding score values. E.g., you define a entered value of 1-3 is worth 1 point, 4-6 is worth 2 points, etc.
Text
Allows entering text input which will not show in stats. Can however be referenced by complex rounds to be used in conditional logic.
Scores Per Rank
Define a score per rank separated by spaces. E.g., '3 2 1' means 3 points for highest value, then 2, then 1. Ties share scores.
List
Define a list of scores or text. These display as a selection list in the scoresheet. Useful for predefined options when the round can only accept certain values.
Complex
Complex rounds allow creating an equation which can reference other rounds and apply more complex operations.
Global Rounds
Rounds set as Global appear above the standard scoresheet and only allow a single input per play rather than one for each player.
For Campaign Rounds
Rounds set as For Campaign persist across plays within a campaign. When a new campaign play is started, those round values are pre-filled with the values they had at the end of the previous play.
Tiebreaker
Rounds set as Is Tiebreaker are used to determine the winner in case of a tie. In the case of a tie, the scores from these rounds are used to break the tie.
Non-Player
Rounds set as Is Non-Player will only show in scoresheets that have a player set as a non-player (used for AI or automated players etc).
Show When
Only available for scoresheets set as co-op. Used to toggle if a round shows all the time, or only when a co-op victory is achieved or not.
Don't Use in Total Score
If checked, this round will not be included in the total score calculation. This is useful for rounds that are meant for tracking purposes only or for rounds that should not impact the overall score. Not applicable for Value or Text rounds which are already excluded from total score calculations.
Campaigns & Legacy Support
Campaigns can be created from the Campaigns page. After creating a campaign for a particular game, plays of that game can then be assigned to the campaign.
When plays are assigned to a campaign, any rounds set as For Campaign will persist across plays — when starting a new play, those round values will be pre-filled with the values they had at the end of the previous play in that campaign.
Clicking on a campaign takes you to a game stats page automatically filtered to only the plays within that campaign.
Creating a Campaign
Tap the New Campaign button from the Campaigns list screen and select a game for that campaign.
Adding a Play to a Campaign
Tap the Play This button from the campaign page, or tap the Set Campaign… link on the play screen.
Auto-fill Campaign Data
By default, when setting a play's campaign, any campaign data from the previous campaign play will be auto-filled. Disable this with the Don't Load Previous Data setting.
Finishing a Campaign
On the Campaign Edit page, check the Is Finished checkbox to set the campaign as finished. The list page can then be filtered on this, and finished campaigns will have a finished icon.
Players & Groups
Adding Players
Tap the New Player button from the Players list screen.
Short Name
The short name is used as the display name on scoresheets. The Name field is still the value synced to BGG.
BGG Username
Enter the BoardGameGeek (BGG) username for the player. This allows for syncing scores and tracking statistics with BGG.
Is Me?
Mark this player as yourself. Some stats are take this into account.
Non-Player
Marking a player as Non-Player means they will not be counted as a player for the purpose of player count statistics. Use this for an Automata or GM, for example.
Merging Players
All plays for the merged-from player will be replaced by the target player. The original player will then be deleted.
Player Groups
Player Groups can be created from the Groups tab on the Players list screen. Groups allow for easier player assignment when recording plays and for viewing statistics between only those players.
Notes
Handy to just put in any additional information or reminders about the player. This field is also used in the Player List search queries (so you can for example put a player's partner in the notes and both players will come up in search results when searching for one of them).
Sessions
Sessions can be used to group plays together for easier tracking and analysis. You can view stats for each session to see how players performed within that session and session scoresheets can be created to rank players for that session. Useful for tournaments, events, or casual game nights.
Creating Sessions
Tap the New Session button from the Sessions list screen. To add a play to a session, tap the Set Session… link on the play screen.
Session Scoresheets
Sessions support three scoresheet modes:
- Manual — Create a scoresheet however you like with all the usual options.
- Aggregate — Automatically sums up all the scores for each player across all plays in this session and creates a total for each.
- Points Per Rank — Define a score per rank. E.g., '3 2 1' means 3 points for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd. Players are then scored based on their finishing position in each game.
BoardGameGeek Integration
Importing from BGG
Imports your Collection and Plays from BoardGameGeek. Existing plays will be ignored. After importing, BGG Collection Status and board game details will be updated. Board Record will also automatically assign expansions to the game group of the base game, and attempt to set scoresheet details based on BGG play data (e.g., co-op detection). Plays with quantity > 1 will be imported as separate plays with only the first linked to BGG.
Import 0 Qty as Expansion Plays
If checked, Board Record will attempt to assign 0-quantity BGG plays as expansion plays to a base game play by matching timestamp and play details. If no match is found, the play is ignored.
Syncing Plays to BGG
Tap the sync icon to log a play to BoardGameGeek. This is a one-way transfer — updates made in BGG will not sync back. Board Record will overwrite all data for the play on BGG.
- Green icon — No changes since last logged.
- Red icon — Changes exist which can be logged.
- +1 icon — Extra play imported from a BGG play with Qty > 1; cannot be synced.
Auto-Log Plays
If enabled, plays will be automatically logged to BGG upon save (requires BGG sync enabled, logged in, and the game having a BGG ID). Plays can still be manually synced from the Play page if this is off.
Log Expansions
If checked, when a play is logged, Board Record will also create a duplicate BGG play for all expansions with quantity set to zero, so the play is logged without inflating your play count.
Append Expansions to Comment
If checked, when a play is logged, Board Record will append all expansions for the play to the end of the comment.
Append Tags to Comment
If checked, when a play is logged, Board Record will append all tags to the end of the comment between square brackets []. Board Record will set these as tags on import and not display them as the comment.
Update Collection
Updates the BGG collection status of your board games without importing any plays. Games not currently in Board Record will be added to your collection.
Update Game Data
Update all game data from BGG such as min/max players, play time, min age, year published, etc.
Retrieve Game Tags
Retrieves all game mechanics and categories for your games from BGG which can then be assigned to games as tags.
Sync Rank with Rating
If checked, when a play is logged to BGG, the rating value for each player will be set to the rank given to each player in Board Record.
Auto Sync
Board Record will periodically check for updates to your BGG collection and download status or info changes. Any new games added to your collection will be created in Board Record. No play information will be checked or updated.
Importing
Importing from BGStats
Import from a BGStats JSON file. Board Record will match existing games and plays by BGG ID to fill in extra data. Board game variants will try to match to expansions and, if found, will be added as expansion plays; otherwise they will be added as tags.
Importing from Board Game Arena
Enter your BGA credentials to import your plays. Existing plays will be ignored. After import you will step through the import process to assign players, locations and games to your exiting ones, or create new ones. All plays imported will be set as Digital. At the start of the import, there is an option to ignore durations above a defined value. These plays will still be imported, but the duration will not be set. Use this to not inflate play time from long turn-based plays.
Contact
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to email me at trafford.g@outlook.com. You can also visit my forum thread over at BoardGameGeek.