For independent board game cafés

Board game café software that starts with your shelves.

Bring your whole library over in one import. Guests book a table and the game they're coming for, scan the code on their table to pick from what's on the shelf, and you see the whole night on one screen.

Free while we launch · GameLedger doesn't take a commission on your bookings.

The Dashboard during service: a table asking for a hand at the top, tonight's numbers, Needs you now, the Floor with a tile for each table, and Coming up with the next parties and their games.
A guest's phone on the Reserve a game step of a booking: what their table is like, a search of the shelf and the café's house favorites.

Demo café: Spinner & Scone. Game details powered by BGG.

What you use today

Your bookings, your tables and your shelf usually live in three places.

  • A restaurant booking tool

    Sells time slots. It doesn't know which games you own.

  • A library app or a spreadsheet

    Knows the shelf. It doesn't take bookings.

  • The phone and a notebook

    Doesn't know your tables or your shelf.

GameLedger keeps the tables, the bookings and the games in one place.

Using a restaurant booking tool? See how they compare →

01

Your whole shelf, ready for guests

Your library is the first thing GameLedger knows, and the rest builds on it.

  • Import a spreadsheet or a BoardGameGeek collection, or search BGG one title at a time. Box art, player counts and play times fill in, and you see which titles need a second look.

    Guide: Import your games from a spreadsheet
  • GameLedger knows which copies are out at a table, so Find a Game and your Staff Picks only show games with a copy on the shelf.

    Guide: Set up Find a Game
  • Guests can flag missing pieces when they finish, and you see it on your Dashboard. A game you mark out of service leaves the picker.

    Guide: Guest feedback and reviews
Everything for your shelf
The Library page searched for cat: quick filters for games in use, bottlenecked or missing pieces, and a list of games with box art, players, play time, copies and how many are in use.
A guest's phone on Find a Game: five picks for their table, starting with a house pick showing its players, play time and themes, and a Play this button.

Demo café: Spinner & Scone. Game details powered by BGG.

02

Bookings that know your shelf

Guests book a table and, if they like, the game they are coming for.

Everything for bookings
Games to set aside tonight: each reserved game with its time, party and table, marked On shelf, with a Set aside tick box.

Demo café: Spinner & Scone. Game details powered by BGG.

03

One scan at the table, no app

Every table gets its own QR code. Guests scan it with their phone's camera and the table's page opens in the browser, with nothing to download, no account and no login.

  1. A guest's phone on their table's page after checking in: Session active, then Recommend me a game, I have my game and Need a hand?, with the café's Staff Picks below.

    Check in

    Guests tap Start Session. The table's page then offers a game pick, a search for the game they grabbed, and help from your team.

    Guide: Table QR codes
  2. A guest's phone on Find a Game's results: Recommended for you, 5 games for your table, led by a house pick, Nations, with its players, play time, complexity, themes and a Play this button.

    Pick a game

    Find a Game asks a few quick questions and suggests up to five games for the group. Play this opens the game's page, and Play this game puts it on their table.

    Guide: Set up Find a Game
  3. A guest's phone with the Need a hand? sheet open: Help us pick a game, Food & drinks, Refill my drinks, The bill and Something else, and an Ask for help button.

    Ask for a hand

    Tapping Need a hand? lets guests ask for help choosing, a rules teach, food and drinks or the bill, plus any options you add. Your team sees exactly what was asked.

    Guide: Table Help Options
  4. A guest's phone on the Quick feedback sheet at check out: stars for their visit with a short comment, then stars for the game, how complex it felt and whether they would play again.

    Rate the night

    When they check out, guests can rate their visit and the game they played, and flag missing or damaged pieces.

    Guide: Guest feedback and reviews

Demo café: Spinner & Scone. Game details powered by BGG.

04

The whole night on one screen

The Dashboard answers what needs you, who is next and where to seat them.

Everything for the night
Tonight on a phone: the evening's parties in order, each with its table and reserved game, and Arrived and Seat buttons.
Needs you now on the Dashboard: Table 3 needs a hand with a teach of Azul, with an On my way button.

Demo café: Spinner & Scone. Game details powered by BGG.

Set up the way your café runs

On your website, in your country

A café's own website with a Book Now button that opens GameLedger's booking form.

The demo café's own website, with its Book Now button.

Request a demo

See GameLedger on a board game café like yours. Tell us about your venue and we'll be in touch within one business day.

  • A 15-minute walkthrough built around your café
  • Free while we launch

We'll never share your information with third parties.

Questions owners ask

Getting started

GameLedger is board game café software that starts with your shelves. Upload your library as a spreadsheet or add games by searching BoardGameGeek, which fills in the details. Guests scan the QR code at their table to pick a game from the copies that aren't in use right now, with no app or login. It also takes your table bookings, and guests can reserve the game they're coming for. You run it from a browser on a tablet, laptop or phone.

Search a title, pick the match, and BoardGameGeek (BGG) fills in player counts, play time, complexity and box art, plus a how-to-play video when BGG lists one (you can add your own link to any game). Or upload a CSV of titles (we give you a template) and BGG fills in the details in the background, a few seconds per game, so keep the tab open while it works.

A tablet, laptop or phone with a web browser for your team. Guests use their own phones. You print the table QR codes from GameLedger, and there is no special hardware to buy.

No. Guests scan the QR code on their table, and your games and Find a Game open in their phone's browser. There's nothing to download, no login and no account.

Bookings

It can. GameLedger has its own bookings that know your tables and your games, so two parties can't hold the same table at the same time and guests can reserve the game they're coming for. Prefer to keep your current tool for now? GameLedger still runs your library and table QR codes alongside it; you just don't get game reservations or the warning when a game may run into the next booking.

Yes, if you want them to. Each booking type offers the lengths you pick, from 15 minutes to 8 hours, or one fixed length. Turn on seating across tables and a party too big for one table can book up to 4 tables at once.

Your team adds them with New booking or Seat walk-in, and they go into the same book as online bookings, so the Floor and Coming up stay right.

Yes. Guests can reserve a specific game with their booking, held against the copies you own. Want a bookable private booth? Set it up as its own reservation type with its own tables.

Yes. Add a Book Now button or a booking form to your site; the guide has steps for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and others. Or share your booking link anywhere you like.

Deposits and online payments are available on request. Ask about them in your demo.

Your games and your guests

Guests answer a few quick questions: how many players, how long, how complex and what mood (you can edit the questions). Find a Game then suggests up to five games from your library that fit and have a copy on the shelf right now.

Not the whole game. Each game page shows your setup steps and a short how-to-play summary (you write these once), plus a how-to-play video from BoardGameGeek when there is one. For anything deeper, guests can tap 'Need a hand?' to ask your staff for a teach.

Guests can report missing pieces or damage in their feedback when they finish, and the game gets an alert on your Dashboard. Staff can note the problem on the game. A game marked out of service, or hidden for missing pieces, stops being suggested to guests until you put it back.

Yes. GameLedger logs the game each table picks, so you can see which games get played, which sit on the shelf, and which to retire. Guest reports and condition flags help keep damaged or incomplete games off your tables.

Cost and your data

Paid plans haven't launched yet. GameLedger is free while we launch, and we'll give you notice before that changes.

No. Unlike platforms that take a cut of every reservation, GameLedger doesn't take a commission on your bookings.

Yes. You own your data. Export your bookings, customer list and game library to CSV with the Export CSV button in the Bookings list and on the Customers and Library pages.

Yes. Times are in your café's time zone and phone numbers are saved with their country code. Confirmation and reminder emails reach guests anywhere.

From the blog

All articles →

Ready to see it in your café?

We'll show you your shelf, your bookings and your floor working together.

Board game café software that starts with your shelves | GameLedger