Game manifest

Every bundle has a boardr.game.json at its root. It's the game's identity card: the table's catalog scans for it, the store renders from it, and CI validates against it.

{
  "manifestVersion": 1,
  "id": "io.github.you.your-game",
  "name": "Your Game",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "minPlayers": 2,
  "maxPlayers": 6,
  "phoneMode": "optional",
  "sdkVersion": "^0.2.0",
  "entries": {
    "logic": "dist/logic.js",
    "boardUi": "dist/board.js",
    "phoneUi": "dist/phone.js"
  },
  "optionsSchema": {
    "easyMode": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "label": "Easy Mode",
      "default": false
    },
    "pointsToWin": {
      "type": "number",
      "label": "Points to Win",
      "min": 10,
      "max": 100,
      "step": 10,
      "default": 50
    },
    "variant": {
      "type": "select",
      "label": "Game Variant",
      "options": ["Standard", "Speedrun", "Chaos"],
      "default": "Standard"
    }
  },
  "description": "One or two sentences for the store copy.",
  "tags": ["cards", "bluffing"],
  "icon": "icon.svg",
  "rules": "rules.md"
}

Fields

Field	Required	Meaning
manifestVersion	✓	always 1
id	✓	lowercase [a-z0-9.-], reverse-DNS. Globally unique; io.github.<handle>.<game> recommended. com.boardr.* is reserved for built-ins.
name	✓	display name, 1–64 chars
version	✓	your release version; the store shows "Update" when it differs from the installed one
minPlayers / maxPlayers	✓	seat limits, enforced by the engine and the lobby
phoneMode	✓	none (board-only / hotseat), optional (both), required (private info — no hotseat)
sdkVersion	✓	semver range of @boardr/sdk you built against: ^x.y.z or exact. Incompatible games are refused with a clear message instead of crashing.
entries.logic	✓	built logic module (worker-side). boardr build emits dist/logic.js (+ a .cjs twin for dropped-in folders)
entries.boardUi	–	built board UI (ESM, React)
entries.phoneUi	–	built phone UI. Required in practice when phoneMode isn't none — phones fall back to a generic turn card without it
optionsSchema	–	custom options schema for pre-game configuration (e.g. game rules, limits, modes). See the SDK docs for logic usage.
description	–	≤ 280 chars; store copy
tags	–	≤ 6, lowercase kebab-case; drive library filters
icon	–	relative path to an svg/png in the bundle
rules	–	relative path to a markdown rulebook in the bundle — reachable from the table and phones at any point in a game

Degradation: a declared-but-missing icon or rules file becomes a library warning (the game stays playable); a missing entries.* file blocks the game with a "run boardr build?" hint.

The rulebook file

rules points at plain markdown rendered with a safe subset: headings, paragraphs, **bold** / *italic* / `code`, lists, blockquotes, fenced code, and --- rules. Raw HTML renders as text. Keep it structured like a physical rulebook — Goal, How to play, Scoring, Ending — see the built-in games for the pattern.