Your collection

Build your collection by adding games directly, or link a BoardGameGeek account to import your owned games. Either way, the Collection page is the heart of deshelved — filter, explore, and look up rules without leaving the table.

Adding & removing games

Tap Add and search the BoardGameGeek database to add any game — no BGG account required; remove a game with the 🗑 button on its card. If you link a BGG account, Deshelved imports your owned games one-way (BGG → Deshelved): due to a BoardGameGeek restriction, changes you make here don't sync back, so we show Add on BGG / Remove on BGG links to do it there. A game removed here that's still owned on BGG will re-appear on the next sync unless removed on BGG too.

Filtering & sorting

Use the controls at the top of the Collection page to narrow down your games:

Player count — filter to games that support a specific number of players. Choose Best to show only games rated ideal for that count by the BGG community, or Recommended for the broader supported range.
Category & mechanic — filter by game type (e.g. deck-building, co-operative) or mechanic (e.g. worker placement, tile laying).
Complexity — sort light to heavy or heavy to light using BGG community weight ratings.

Game cards

Each game is shown as a card with its box art, title, player count range, complexity rating, and how many times you've logged it on BGG. Player count badges show whether the BGG community rates a given count as Best or Recommended for that game.

Card backs — rulebooks, cheat sheets & chat

On desktop, click the green triangle in the bottom-right corner of a card to flip it. On mobile, drag the card sideways. The back face gives you four things:

Rulebook — attach a PDF so it's always at hand. You have two options:
- Upload PDF — pick a file from your computer. The file must be a text-based PDF (not a scanned image) so the rules can be read.
- Find PDF — tap to search the web for an official publisher-hosted rulebook automatically. Works well for most popular titles. There is a monthly search limit; if it's reached for the month the button will report nothing found, and you can upload manually instead.
Cheat sheet — once a rulebook is attached, deshelved reads the rules and produces a concise quick-reference card: setup, turn order, key rules, end game, and quick tips. You can edit the cheat sheet and save your changes if anything needs correcting.
Rulebook chat — a 💬 icon appears in the card back header once a PDF is attached. Tap it to ask rules questions directly. The AI reads the PDF and answers from that text only — it won't guess or draw on general knowledge. If the answer isn't in the rulebook it says so. You can ask it to add a rule to the cheat sheet; it validates the information against the PDF before saving. Chat history clears when you flip the card back to the front.
BoardGameGeek — a direct link to the game's BGG page for ratings, forums, and variants.

Scanned rulebooks saved as images inside a PDF cannot be read and will be rejected. If your scan is declined, look for the publisher's official digital edition — these are almost always text-based.

Sharing your collection

Your Collection page has a Share button that copies a public link anyone can open — no BoardGameGeek account needed, and no account needed to browse it. Older links based on your BGG username keep working too.

Viewing someone else's collection

Opening a shared collection link shows that person's games with the same filters available. If you're signed in, you can flip cards, upload or find rulebook PDFs, edit cheat sheets, and use the rulebook chat — the game database and rulebooks are shared across all users, so anything you add benefits everyone.

Borrowing a crew member's collection

Prefer to see a household member's shelf as your own? Go to Settings → Shared collection and choose whose collection to use. Your Collection page and events then draw from their library — including games they added directly in Deshelved, not just their BoardGameGeek ones. While borrowing, the view is read-only: the Add and remove controls are hidden, since it isn't your own library. Switch back to your own any time to manage your own games.

Other help articles: Hosting an event · Joining as a guest · Why sign up? · Voting & results · Availability & dates · BoardGameGeek sync · Passwords & security · FAQ · Mobile apps