When we started building BGK, our goal was simple: make it easier to share games with playtesters.

Along the way, we learned a lot about the challenges board game designers face when creating, organizing, testing, and iterating on their games. Many of the improvements we've made came directly from those conversations, and we still have a ton to learn from all of you!

On that note, if you're interested in trying BGK or helping shape its future, make sure you’re on our BGK Beta Discord server. It's the best way to get started, ask questions, share feedback, and connect with playtesters. Since BGK is still in early beta, feedback from designers and playtesters is greatly appreciated, and we're looking forward to hearing more as development continues. Use this link to join the community. 😊

Here are five things we focused on while building BGK, all inspired by frustrations we encountered with other online board game tools.

Project Versioning

We know game designers rarely work on just one version of a game. Sometimes you're testing different themes. Sometimes you're balancing player counts. Sometimes you're experimenting with entirely different mechanics at the same time.

BGK lets you create a single project and then maintain as many versions of that game as you need underneath it.

Maybe you have a racecar version and a racehorse version. Or a dedicated 2-player version alongside separate versions for larger groups. We support keeping those versions separate while still organizing them under the same project, so they're always easy to find and manage.

As your game becomes more polished, you'll eventually be able to archive and manage older versions as well.

In-App Asset Management

We also know game designers have a ton of image assets.
Everyone has their own way of organizing files, whether that's version numbers, keywords, or something entirely unique.

Rather than forcing a specific organizational method, BGK adapts to the way you already work. We focus on providing tools that actually help you quickly find the card images, token art, and other assets you need, wherever you've stored them.

Focus on Bulk-Creation

Importing assets one file at a time is tedious. That's why BGK allows you to import hundreds of files and folders at once. You won’t need to reorganize; your folder structure will be entirely unchanged, and the files will be available anywhere inside your project.

For composite files such as Print-and-Play PDFs or Tabletop Simulator card decks, BGK also includes import tools that automatically cut them into individual components for you.

The goal is simple: spend less time preparing files and more time designing your game.

A Powerful, Professional Editor Inspired by Creative Software

We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, so that’s why our editing experience was purposefully inspired by the tools many board game designers rely on every day: Creative Suite software.

Nowhere else can you find a digital board game platform with a layer view and hierarchy tree to help you arrange your game’s pieces inside a deck or stack tokens on player mats on boards.

We wanted the editing experience to feel familiar, powerful, and efficient, making creation fast, enjoyable, and approachable for new users too. The result is a creation workflow designed to help you build and iterate quickly.

One-Click Link Sharing

Once everything is in place, publishing your game takes a single click.

BGK generates a shareable link that you can send to friends, collaborators, or playtesters.

Some groups may want to play together and discuss feedback in real time. Others may prefer to play independently and submit feedback afterward. BGK supports both approaches.

We felt that modern online play shouldn't require complicated lobby systems or friend codes. Most people simply want to click a link and start playing.

When your first playtest group joins, they'll receive a table-specific link they can share with additional players. When a second group joins, they'll automatically get their own table and can play simultaneously.
You can run as many playtest tables as you need at the same time.

Final Thoughts

If you've made it this far, you’ve probably been waiting for a professional-feeling board game tool to come around for a long time. So were we!

We’re glad to be fortunate enough to make something that integrates into the workflows of people who create new, fun experiences for us all.

Every feature we've highlighted here was designed to remove friction from the prototyping and playtesting process, so designers can spend more time making great games.

Join the Discord so you can get started too! We're excited to keep improving BGK with your feedback, and we'd love to have you along for the journey. 😊