The Game Crafter MCP Server

An MCP server that connects AI assistants to The Game Crafter API, letting you design, manage, and price tabletop games through natural conversation.

Browse the component catalog, create game projects, add card decks and boards, upload artwork, and get instant pricing estimates — all through your AI assistant.

Who it's for

Indie board game designers, tabletop creators, and TGC users who want to manage their projects through an AI assistant instead of navigating the TGC web interface manually.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• A TGC account — sign up here
• A TGC API key — generate one here

Installation

Option 1: Remote (hosted on Apify) — no install needed

Connect to the hosted server at:

https://chillbot3000--tgc-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp

No local setup required. Provide your TGC credentials when you call the authenticate tool. Usage is billed per operation via Apify's pay-per-event model (~$0.09 per typical session).

Also available on Glama Connectors.

Option 2: Local (via npx)

Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "thegamecrafter": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@alex-gon/tgc-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "TGC_API_KEY_ID": "your-api-key-id",
        "TGC_USERNAME": "your-tgc-username",
        "TGC_PASSWORD": "your-tgc-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The server will be downloaded automatically and appear in your MCP connections.

git clone https://github.com/alex-gon/thegamecrafter-mcp-server.git
cd thegamecrafter-mcp-server
npm install && npm run build

Then use "command": "node" and "args": ["/absolute/path/to/dist/index.js"] in the config above.

Configuration

Variable	Required	Description
TGC_API_KEY_ID	Yes	Your TGC API key ID
TGC_USERNAME	Yes	Your TGC account username
TGC_PASSWORD	Yes	Your TGC account password
TGC_API_BASE	No	API base URL (defaults to https://www.thegamecrafter.com/api)
TGC_UPLOAD_BASE_DIR	No	Restrict file uploads to this directory (defaults to working directory)

See .env.example for a template.

Available tools

Tools

Tool	Description	Auth
authenticate	Create a TGC session (accepts credentials as params or uses env vars)	No
logout	Destroy the current TGC session	Yes
get_game_catalog	Browse printable component types (cards, boards, boxes)	No
get_component_sizes	Get pixel dimensions and finished inches for component types	No
get_component_details	Get detailed info for a component type or game part	No
get_my_designers	List designer profiles for the authenticated user	Yes
get_my_games	List all games for a designer (paginated)	Yes
get_game_details	Get full game info with components, files, and pricing	Yes
create_game	Create a new game project under a designer	Yes
update_game	Update a game's name, description, or visibility	Yes
delete_game	Permanently delete a game project	Yes
add_component_to_game	Add a printable component or stock part to a game	Yes
upload_file	Upload an image to a TGC folder (from disk or URL)	Yes
get_pricing_estimate	Get per-component cost breakdown for a game	Yes

Resources

URI	Description
tgc://catalog	Full catalog of printable component types (cached 30 min)
tgc://game/{id}/summary	Complete summary of a game project
tgc://component-sizes	Pixel dimensions for all component types (cached 30 min)

Prompts

Prompt	Description
new_game_setup	Guided workflow for creating a complete game project with components
estimate_game_cost	Step-by-step cost estimation for an existing game

Example prompts

Try saying these to your AI assistant:

• "Show me all my games on The Game Crafter with their component lists"
• "Create a new card game called Stellar Drift with a standard poker deck and tuck box"
• "What pixel dimensions do I need for a poker card face image?"
• "Upload this image and assign it as the front face of my card deck"
• "Estimate the cost of my game based on its current components"
• "Help me set up a new game project from scratch — walk me through it"
• "What component types are available for board games?"
• "Delete my test game project"

Limitations

• Rate limits — The server enforces 3 requests/second to TGC (below their 4/sec limit) with per-session budgets of 500 reads and 200 writes.
• Authentication — Credentials can be passed as authenticate tool parameters (required for remote usage) or via environment variables (for local stdio). OAuth 2.1 support is planned for a future release.
• File uploads — Maximum 50 MB per file. Images must be between 50x50 and 10,000x10,000 pixels. Supported formats: PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, SVG, WebP, PDF.
• Transport — Stdio for local usage. Remote HTTP available via the hosted Apify endpoint.
• Read-only catalog — The component catalog and pricing come from TGC and cannot be modified.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.

To run the development server:

cp .env.example .env    # fill in your credentials
npm run dev             # starts with tsx + hot reload
npm test                # run the test suite

License

MIT