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BoardGameGeek

Interact with BoardGameGeek API (Built: 2025-05-08T04:06:46.611Z)

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Overview

This node integrates with the BoardGameGeek (BGG) API, allowing users to search for board games by name among other operations. The "Search Games" operation specifically enables users to input a search term and retrieve a list of matching board games from BGG. This is useful for applications that need to find game IDs or basic information based on partial or full game names, such as building game recommendation systems, cataloging collections, or integrating game data into other workflows.

Practical example: A user wants to find all board games related to "Catan" to display options in their app. They provide "Catan" as the search query, and the node returns a list of matching games with their IDs and names.

Properties

Name Meaning
Search Query The search term to look for games.
Return Raw Response Whether to return the raw XML response from the BGG API instead of parsed JSON results.

Output

The output JSON contains an items array with objects representing each found game. Each object includes:

  • id: The unique identifier of the game on BoardGameGeek.
  • name: The name of the game.

If the "Return Raw Response" property is enabled, the output will contain a single field:

  • rawResponse: The raw XML string returned by the BGG API without parsing.

Example output when parsed:

{
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "13",
      "name": "Catan"
    },
    {
      "id": "1021",
      "name": "Catan: Seafarers"
    }
  ]
}

Dependencies

  • Requires internet access to call the BoardGameGeek XML API endpoints.
  • Uses an XML parser library to convert XML responses into JSON.
  • No authentication or API keys are required since BGG API is public.

Troubleshooting

  • No games found matching the search query: This error occurs if the search term does not match any games. Try refining or changing the search term.
  • Empty or invalid search query: The node requires a non-empty search term; ensure this property is set.
  • Network errors or timeouts: Ensure the node has internet connectivity and that the BGG API is reachable.
  • Raw XML response issues: If enabling raw response, downstream nodes must handle XML strings appropriately.

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