Videogame Encyclopedia MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides structured video game information from Steam and SteamGridDB. This server exposes tools for searching games and retrieving comprehensive metadata including descriptions, categories, release dates, player counts, and visual assets like logos, boxart, and icons.

Features

Steam Integration

steam_search_game: Search for games by name on Steam
steam_get_details: Get comprehensive game information including:
Description and detailed information
Categories and genres
Supported platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Multiplayer/singleplayer capabilities
Release date
Pricing information
Developer and publisher details
steam_get_dlc_list: List all available DLCs for a specific game
steam_get_reviews_summary: Get community ratings and top review snippets
steam_get_game_news: Get the latest news and announcements for a game
steam_get_player_count: Get the current number of online players for a game
steam_get_top_sellers: Get current global top selling games
steam_get_top_games: Browse top games by genre or category
steam_get_genres: Get a list of common Steam genres for discovery

SteamGridDB Integration

steamgrid_search_game: Search for games on SteamGridDB
steamgrid_get_assets: Retrieve visual assets including:
Transparent logos
Boxart/grid images
Hero/banner images
Icons
Multiple variations with metadata (dimensions, MIME type, author)
steamgrid_get_best_logo: Get the single best transparent logo for a game

ScreenScraper Integration

screenscraper_get_systems: Get a list of all supported retro gaming systems
screenscraper_search_game: Search for retro games by name with optional system filtering
screenscraper_get_game_info: Get detailed game information and media assets including:
Game metadata (developer, publisher, release date, rating)
Screenshots, covers, and boxart
Wheel logos and marquees
Video previews
Fan art and cartridge images
Support for ROM identification via checksums (CRC, MD5, SHA1)

Unified Tools

game_get_full_profile: Get a comprehensive game profile in a single request, aggregating metadata from Steam and community visual assets from SteamGridDB. This is the recommended tool for providing a complete overview of a game.

Installation

Prerequisites

Node.js 18 or higher
npm or yarn

Setup

Clone or download this repository

   cd /Users/hoanicross/devel/perso/genai/mcp/game-encyclopedia-mcp-server

Install dependencies

   npm install

Configure API keys

Copy the example environment file: ``bash cp .env.example .env ``

Edit .env and add your API keys:

SteamGridDB API Key: Required for high-quality game assets (grids, heroes, logos). Get it at steamgriddb.com.

Configuration

The server requires the following environment variables:

| Variable | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | STEAMGRIDDB_API_KEY | Yes | Your SteamGridDB API key | | SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_ID | No | ScreenScraper developer ID (for retro games) | | SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_PASSWORD | No | ScreenScraper developer password | | SCREENSCRAPER_USER_ID | No | ScreenScraper username (optional, provides higher API quota) | | SCREENSCRAPER_USER_PASSWORD | No | ScreenScraper user password | | SCREENSCRAPER_SOFTWARE_NAME | No | Software identifier (defaults to 'game-encyclopedia-mcp-server') |

Setup

1. Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory: ```env STEAMGRIDDB_API_KEY=your_steamgriddb_key_here

Optional: For retro game support via ScreenScraper

SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_ID=your_dev_id_here SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_PASSWORD=your_dev_password_here SCREENSCRAPER_USER_ID=your_username_here SCREENSCRAPER_USER_PASSWORD=your_password_here ```

To get ScreenScraper credentials:

Register at screenscraper.fr
Request developer credentials at the developer forum

Build the project

   npm run build

Usage

With Claude Desktop

Add this server to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "game-encyclopedia": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/hoanicross/devel/perso/genai/mcp/game-encyclopedia-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "STEAMGRIDDB_API_KEY": "your_steamgriddb_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to load the server.

Quick Installation/Launch

Via Smithery

You can install this server into your MCP client (like Claude Desktop) with one command: ``bash npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install videogame-encyclopedia-mcp-server --client claude ``

Via uvx

If you have uv installed, you can run the server directly (requires Node.js locally): ``bash uvx --from node videogame-encyclopedia-mcp-server ``

Via npx

npx videogame-encyclopedia-mcp-server

[!NOTE] To publish this package to NPM, you must set an NPM_TOKEN secret in your GitHub repository settings.

Available Tools

1. steam_search_game

Search for games on Steam by name.

Input:

query (string, required): Game name to search for
limit (number, optional): Maximum results (default: 10)

Example: ``json { "query": "Elden Ring", "limit": 5 } ``

2. steam_get_details

Get detailed information about a Steam game.

Input:

appid (number, required): Steam App ID

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620 } ``

3. steam_get_dlc_list

Get a list of all available DLCs for a specific Steam game.

Input:

appid (number, required): Steam App ID

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620 } ``

4. steam_get_reviews_summary

Get a summary of user reviews and ratings for a specific Steam game.

Input:

appid (number, required): Steam App ID

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620 } ``

5. steam_get_game_news

Get the latest news and announcements for a specific Steam game.

Input:

appid (number, required): Steam App ID of the game
count (number, optional): Number of news items to fetch (default: 5)

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620, "count": 3 } ``

6. steam_get_player_count

Get the current number of players online for a specific Steam game.

Input:

appid (number, required): Steam App ID of the game

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620 } ``

7. steam_get_genres

Get a list of common Steam genres and categories for discovery.

Example: ``json {} ``

8. steam_get_top_sellers

Get the current global top selling games on Steam.

Input:

limit (number, optional): Maximum results (default: 10)

Example: ``json { "limit": 5 } ``

9. steam_get_top_games

Browse top games for a specific Steam category or genre (e.g., "Action", "RPG", "Strategy").

Input:

genreId (string, optional): Genre name to browse
limit (number, optional): Maximum results (default: 10)

Example: ``json { "genreId": "RPG", "limit": 5 } ``

10. steamgrid_search_game

Search for games on SteamGridDB.

Input:

query (string, required): Game name to search for

Example: ``json { "query": "Elden Ring" } ``

11. steamgrid_get_assets

Get visual assets for a game from SteamGridDB.

Input:

gameId (number, required): SteamGridDB game ID
assetTypes (array, optional): Asset types to retrieve: grid, hero, logo, icon (default: all)

Example: ``json { "gameId": 123456, "assetTypes": ["logo", "grid"] } ``

12. steamgrid_get_best_logo

Get the single best transparent logo for a game from SteamGridDB, optimized for UI use.

Input:

gameId (number, optional): SteamGridDB Game ID
appid (number, optional): Steam App ID

Example: ``json { "appid": 1245620 } ``

13. game_get_full_profile

Get a comprehensive game profile combining metadata from Steam and visual assets from SteamGridDB. This tool automatically handles the mapping between Steam and SteamGridDB.

Input:

query (string, required): Game name to search for

Example: ``json { "query": "Elden Ring" } ``

14. screenscraper_get_systems

Get a list of all supported retro gaming systems from ScreenScraper.fr.

Input: None required.

Example: ``json {} ``

Returns: List of systems with ID, name, manufacturer, release date, and supported file extensions.

15. screenscraper_search_game

Search for retro games on ScreenScraper.fr by name.

Input:

gameName (string, required): Game name to search for
systemId (number, optional): Filter by gaming system ID (use screenscraper_get_systems to find IDs)
language (string, optional): Language code for game names and descriptions (default: "en")

Example: ``json { "gameName": "Super Mario Bros", "systemId": 4, "language": "en" } ``

Returns: List of matching games with metadata including system, developer, publisher, genres, and synopsis.

16. screenscraper_get_game_info

Get detailed information and media assets for a retro game from ScreenScraper.fr.

Input:

gameId (number, optional): ScreenScraper game ID
gameName (string, optional): Game name to search for
systemId (number, optional): Gaming system ID
crc (string, optional): ROM CRC checksum
md5 (string, optional): ROM MD5 checksum
sha1 (string, optional): ROM SHA1 checksum
romName (string, optional): ROM filename
romSize (number, optional): ROM file size in bytes
language (string, optional): Language code (default: "en")

Example (by game ID): ``json { "gameId": 12345, "systemId": 4 } ``

Example (by ROM checksum): ``json { "md5": "a31ec74822f6e93f848ac58d9c85716c", "systemId": 4 } ``

Returns: Comprehensive game information including all available media (screenshots, covers, wheels, marquees, videos, fanarts, boxes, cartridges, maps).

Development

Scripts

npm run build - Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
npm start - Run the compiled server
npm run dev - Build and run in one command

Project Structure

game-encyclopedia-mcp-server/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts           # Main server entry point
│   ├── config.ts          # Configuration management
│   ├── types.ts           # TypeScript type definitions
│   └── tools/
│       ├── steam.ts       # Steam API integration
│       ├── steamgrid.ts   # SteamGridDB API integration
│       ├── screenscraper.ts # ScreenScraper API integration
│       └── unified.ts     # Unified search tool implementation
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── .env.example

Troubleshooting

"Configuration error" on startup

Make sure you've created a .env file with valid API keys:

Check that .env exists in the project root
Verify STEAMGRIDDB_API_KEY is set
Ensure there are no quotes around the keys in the .env file

"Game not found" errors

For SteamGridDB: Ensure the game ID is from SteamGridDB, not Steam

No visual assets returned

Some games may not have all asset types available. The server returns only assets that exist in SteamGridDB.

License

MIT

Videogame Encyclopedia MCP Server