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.
<details> <summary>Alternative: install from source</summary>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
authenticatetool 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