Skip to main content

Add Proper Play Mode Metadata to the Games Database

LaunchBox Games Database

šŸ“‹ Summary

Add dedicated Play Mode metadata to the LaunchBox Games Database so games can be categorized by how multiplayer actually works.

ā— Problem

LaunchBox can display Play Mode locally, but the Games Database does not appear to store detailed Play Mode values for regular game entries.

Instead, Play Mode is generally inferred from broader metadata such as whether a game is cooperative or how many players it supports.

This makes it difficult to accurately track and search for specific multiplayer types, such as:

  • 3-player simultaneous

  • 4-player simultaneous

  • 2-player alternating

  • Competitive player-versus-player

  • Cooperative multiplayer

šŸ’” Proposal

Add Play Mode as a proper editable metadata field in the LaunchBox Games Database.

Supported values could include:

  • Single player

  • 2-player simultaneous

  • 3-player simultaneous

  • 4-player simultaneous

  • 2-player alternating

  • 4-player alternating

  • Cooperative

  • Player versus player

These values should be available for database contributors to submit, edit, and correct.

šŸ§© Use Cases

  • Find all 4-player simultaneous games on a platform

  • Separate co-op games from competitive multiplayer games

  • Improve metadata for platforms where multiplayer details are currently vague

  • Let contributors correct missing or incomplete multiplayer information

šŸ“¦ Benefits

  • More accurate multiplayer metadata

  • Better filtering and playlist creation

  • More useful Games Database search results

  • Improved community data over time

āš ļø Considerations

Play Mode values should have clear definitions so contributors apply them consistently. Broad values like ā€œMultiplayerā€ may still be useful when exact behavior is unknown.

Posted by Rinuschh Ā·
Status: Open To Community2 comments

Log in to comment and vote

Comments2

  • AstroBob changed status to Open To Community
    Teamā€¢

    Jul 14

    Pinned

    Hi there!

    Thanks so much for submitting this request and for taking the time to explain your use case ā€” that context is always super helpful.

    Iā€™ve gone ahead and fleshed out the main idea using the info you provided, and Iā€™m opening it up to the community for further discussion and feedback. Please let me know if this fleshed-out version doesnā€™t match your original intended request.

    Feel free to let me know if you have any extra thoughts, examples, or edge cases you think might be relevant!

    Cheers,
    The LaunchBox team

  • Rinuschh

    ā€¢

    Jul 14

    Why can't we properly edit the 'play mode' field of games in the games DB?

    Iā€™d like to extend/correct data. Both for my own benefit as well as for community benefit. I want to be able to search for games as e.g. ā€˜3 players simultaneousā€™ AND ā€˜4 players simultaneousā€™ on all platforms. For instance, Amiga or C64 donā€™t use these values and Iā€™m not able to edit them in the LB games DB (online).
    Also: why is there an option ā€˜Cooperativeā€™, but no option ā€˜PvPā€™ (player versus player)? And what does ā€˜multiplayerā€™ actually mean at the moment? It looks like this is a ā€˜catch allā€™ rest group which doesnā€™t tell you anything (alternating, simultaneous, coop, pvp).

    Unless Iā€™ve missed something, it is a shame this basic stuff is still not in place. It would (eventually) make a much better (i.e. more useful) DB.