Frequently asked questions.

No. Boardweaver runs in the web browser on a computer, a tablet or a phone, so there is nothing to install. On a phone you can also add it to your Home Screen: see Play on your phone.

No. Playing games on Boardweaver is free by default, you would only be charged for access to a game (or additional game content) that a game creator themselves has decided to require payment for.

Not always. Each game's designer decides whether guest players may join or host its matches without creating a Boardweaver account. A guest sign-in lasts 7 days on the device where it started, so turn it into an account to keep your name and matches: see Play as a guest.

Pick a game in the Play catalog and select Play to open a lobby. Send the lobby's link to your group, and start the match once everyone has a seat. Only the host, the person who opened the lobby, can start it: see Start a match.

Yes, in games whose designer added bots. The host adds them in the lobby before the match starts: see Play with bots.

No. Connect a coding agent, such as Claude or ChatGPT Codex, and it builds your game from your rules and art. If you do write code, you can build the game yourself instead: see Connect a coding agent.

Yes. Legal moves, turn order, scoring and the end of the game all live in your game's code, so players cannot make a move your rules don't allow. However, if you want your games to have a more “sandboxed” feel, you can simulate that in your game as well.

Turn-based tabletop games, including ones where players act at the same time rather than one after another. Boardweaver is made for board and card games, so it is not the right tool for a real-time video game.

Yes. In a private playtest, the people you invite play your game's latest commit (version), a saved version of it, before anyone else. A public playtest lets anyone on Boardweaver play one commit (version) while you keep working. When a playtest match ends, Boardweaver asks the players for feedback: see Run a private playtest.

You cannot publish from the Studio yet. The Boardweaver team publishes games, so ask us on Discord when yours is ready: see Publish a game.

Playing is always free. Hosting the games you make takes one of three monthly plans, and new creators can try the Designer plan free first. The pricing page shows what each plan costs and includes.

Boardweaver's menus and messages are in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. A game shows your language when its designer has translated it: see Choose a language.

Delete it from the Account tab of Settings. For 30 days after that you can sign in to restore it, and after 30 days it is gone for good: see Delete or restore your account.

If a game won't load or a match won't connect, Fix a connection or loading problem walks through the usual fixes. For anything else, ask us in our Discord community or send the team a message from the contact page.