A few days before BoardGameGeek, currently the Internet’s only comprehensive source for information about board and card games, announced its first month with over 2,000,000 unique visitors, a new competitor with muscle announced that it is open for beta: James Mathe‘s BoardGameInfo.com.

BGI builds on the already existing and comprehensive framework used for James’ RPGhost network of sites, which already has a sizable database of board and card game information – of course, nowhere near as comprehensive as BGG’s just yet, but that’s what the beta period is for. They’re looking for help adding reviews, games, ratings, etc. BGI is also partnering with sites to add content. Update: James adds: RPG.NET is responsible for much of the existing reviews and data and will be our partner (they do RPGs).

BGI’s mission statement expresses its goals, seemingly specifically to distinguish itself from BGG, including:

  • Clean front page
  • Prominent multimedia reviews
  • Strong emphasis on services for retailers (UPC scanners, direct sales, forums, etc) and game groups
  • Antipathy to They won’t run ads from online discounters
  • Prominent news feeds and events calendar

Best of luck, James.

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