TL;DR
Start simple: date, players, winner, scores. Expand as needed with turn-by-turn notation, decision points, and strategic observations. The best digital tool for most people is BG Stats (free, syncs with BoardGameGeek). Physical journals offer reflection benefits that apps lack. The golden rule: the best logging system is one you will actually use every time.
Why Bother Tracking Board Game Sessions?
Everyone has that friend who claims they "always win" at Catan. Without records, there is no way to settle the argument. But dispute resolution is just the beginning — board game notation opens up a surprisingly rich layer of the hobby.
You Improve Faster With Data
Memory is unreliable. You might remember losing badly at a particular game, but forget the three times you won before that. Tracking your plays gives you an honest picture of your strengths and weaknesses. Over time, patterns emerge: perhaps you consistently underperform with engine-building strategies but dominate in area control games. That kind of insight only comes from data.
If you are serious about competitive strategy in resource management games, logging your sessions is one of the most effective ways to identify what is actually working versus what merely feels like it is working.
You Preserve Memories Worth Keeping
Five years from now, you will not remember the specifics of last Tuesday's game night. But a quick journal entry — "Beth pulled off an incredible last-round comeback in Wingspan, final score 89-87" — brings the whole evening back. For families especially, these records become a lovely archive of time spent together.
You Make Better Decisions About Your Collection
Play tracking answers the questions that matter: which games actually reach the table regularly? Which have gathered dust since purchase? After six months of logging, you will have clear data on what to keep, what to sell, and where the gaps in your collection sit.
Three Levels of Game Logging
Not everyone needs the same depth of record-keeping. Here is a framework for choosing your approach.
Logging Approaches Compared
| Approach | Time Per Game | What You Record | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Log | 30 seconds | Date, game, players, winner | Casual gamers wanting a basic record |
| Statistical | 2-5 minutes | Scores, duration, notes, expansions used | Players wanting to improve |
| Full Notation | 10-30 minutes | Turn-by-turn decisions, strategy notes, analysis | Tournament and competitive players |
Level 1: The Quick Log
This is for everyone. It takes thirty seconds and captures the essentials.
15 Feb 2026 | Smoothie Wars | Alice, Bob, Charlie, Me | Winner: Alice (£42)
That is it. Date, game, who played, who won. If you do nothing else, do this. Over a year, you will build a surprisingly useful dataset showing play frequency, group preferences, and win distribution.
Level 2: Statistical Tracking
Add final scores, game duration, any expansions or variants used, and a one-line note about the decisive moment. This level feeds meaningful analysis without creating a burden.
15 Feb 2026 | Smoothie Wars | 4 players | 55 min
Alice: £42 (W) | Me: £38 | Bob: £31 | Charlie: £27
Note: Alice dominated the beach location early. I spread too thin.
Expansion: Tropical Fruits pack
This pairs well with post-game analysis habits — reviewing your notes before the next session helps you avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Level 3: Full Notation
For competitive players preparing for tournament play, detailed turn-by-turn records are invaluable. This means recording individual decisions, resource flows, and strategic pivots as they happen.
⚠️ Warning
Recording moves during play slows the game and can frustrate other players. Save full notation for solo sessions, cooperative games where pace is flexible, or dedicated practice sessions. For competitive group games, jot brief notes between rounds and expand them from memory immediately afterwards.
Setting Up Your Notation System
Choose Your Medium
Digital apps offer convenience, search, and automatic statistics. Physical journals encourage deeper reflection. Many serious gamers use both — an app for quick logging and a notebook for strategic analysis. Pick whichever you will actually use consistently.
Define Your Minimum Fields
Decide on the baseline information you will record every single time: date, game name, players, and winner at minimum. Write these fields down (or set them up in your template) so logging becomes automatic rather than a decision.
Create Shorthand for Your Most-Played Games
For games you play frequently, develop abbreviations. In Smoothie Wars, you might use B=Beach, M=Market, P=Park for locations and S=Strawberry, M=Mango, B=Banana for ingredients. A turn record like "B:S+M, sell £6" becomes readable with practice and takes seconds to write.
Build the Habit Before Adding Complexity
Start with Level 1 logging for a month. Once recording feels automatic, add detail. Players who start with complex systems almost always abandon them within weeks.
Best Digital Tools for Game Logging
BG Stats (iOS and Android)
The most popular dedicated play-tracking app in the board gaming community, with good reason. It syncs with your BoardGameGeek collection, generates win-rate statistics automatically, tracks locations and player groups, and exports data cleanly. The free version covers everything most players need.
For a broader look at how technology enhances tabletop gaming, see our guide to digital companion apps for board games.
BoardGameGeek Play Logging
If you already have a BGG account, you can log plays directly on game pages. The interface is not optimised for speed, but it connects your records to the world's largest board game database and community. Useful if you want one platform for everything.
Google Sheets or Excel
The power option. Full control over what you track, how you analyse it, and what charts you produce. A simple template with columns for Date, Game, Players, Winner, Scores, Duration, and Notes covers most needs. Pivot tables and conditional formatting turn raw data into genuine insight.
💡 Template Starter
Create a Google Sheet with two tabs: one for raw play data and one for a dashboard with formulas calculating win rates, most-played games, and monthly play counts. Share it with your gaming group so everyone can contribute entries.
The Case for Physical Journals
Digital tools win on convenience. But there is something genuinely valuable about sitting down with a notebook after a game and writing out what happened and why.
Handwriting is slower than typing, and that slowness is the point. It forces you to process the game rather than just record it. Which decisions mattered? Where did the game turn? What would you do differently? These reflections are where real improvement happens.
A practical format for a physical gaming journal:
DATE: 15 February 2026
GAME: Smoothie Wars (4 players, 55 min)
RESULT: 2nd of 4 (£38 — winner had £42)
KEY MOMENT: Round 4, chose Market over Beach.
Beach had less competition but I misread demand.
LESSON: Watch opponent positioning before committing.
Two players at Beach would have made it crowded anyway.
MOOD: Great evening. Charlie's first game — picked it up fast.
The "Mood" line might seem indulgent, but it helps preserve the social memory of game nights. When you look back through a journal, those human details matter more than the scores.
Analysing Your Data
Collecting data is step one. Extracting insight from it is where the real value lies.
Win Rate by Game
The most basic and most revealing metric. If you win 60% of your games of Azul but only 15% at Terraforming Mars, that tells you something about your strategic strengths. Understanding player behaviour patterns through data adds another dimension to this kind of self-analysis.
Performance by Player Count
Many players perform differently depending on group size. You might excel in two-player games where you can read a single opponent but struggle in five-player games where the dynamics become chaotic. Tracking this helps you understand why.
Trends Over Time
Plot your win rate as a rolling average (say, last 20 games of a given title). A rising line means you are genuinely improving. A flat line after many plays might mean you have hit a plateau — time to study strategy guides or try new approaches.
What Not to Obsess Over
Small sample sizes lie. Winning three out of four games does not make you a 75% win-rate player — it makes you someone with insufficient data. Most board game statisticians suggest a minimum of 15-20 plays before drawing conclusions about a specific game.
ℹ️ The Fair Win Rate
In a perfectly balanced four-player game, each player should win 25% of the time. A sustained win rate above 30% across 20+ plays genuinely indicates above-average skill at that game. Anything between 20-30% is within normal variance.
Making Logging Social
Record-keeping does not have to be a solo pursuit. Some of the best uses are communal.
Group leaderboards create friendly rivalry between game nights. A shared spreadsheet or BG Stats group shows who is on form and who needs a rematch. Keep it lighthearted — the point is fun, not pressure.
Annual awards turn a year of data into a celebration. Categories like "Most Improved Player," "Closest Game of the Year," and "Most Plays of a Single Game" give everyone something to aim for.
Game night planning gets easier with data. If you are hosting a game night, checking your logs tells you which games your group enjoys most, which have not been played in months, and which player counts suit your expected attendance.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Starting too complex. The number one reason people abandon game logging is over-engineering their system from day one. Begin with the thirty-second quick log. Add complexity only when you genuinely want more data.
Logging inconsistently. Partial data is more frustrating than no data. If you only log wins and skip losses, your statistics are worthless. Commit to logging every play or acknowledge the gaps.
Never reviewing. Data without analysis is just numbers. Set a monthly reminder to spend ten minutes looking through your records. That is where the "aha" moments happen.
Forgetting the qualitative. Numbers tell you who won. Notes tell you why the game was memorable. Both matter.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Start with a thirty-second quick log: date, game, players, winner
- BG Stats is the best free app for most players; spreadsheets offer the most flexibility
- Physical journals encourage deeper strategic reflection than apps
- Review your data monthly to extract genuine improvement insights
- The best system is the one you will actually use every single time
- Keep it fun — if logging feels like a chore, simplify
Frequently Asked Questions
Is game logging actually worth the effort?
For anyone who plays board games regularly (twice a month or more), yes. Even the most basic logging — thirty seconds per game — gives you a year-end summary that is genuinely interesting. For competitive players, it is essential for improvement.
What is the best app for tracking board game plays?
BG Stats is the most popular and full-featured option, available free on both iOS and Android. It syncs with BoardGameGeek, calculates statistics automatically, and handles group tracking. For players who want more control, a Google Sheets template works brilliantly.
Will logging slow down my game nights?
Not if you keep it simple. A quick log after the final score count takes thirty seconds and can happen while someone else is packing up. Full notation during play does slow things down, which is why it is best reserved for solo sessions or dedicated practice.
Should I track games I am still learning?
Yes, but tag them as learning games. Your improvement curve in a new game is genuinely interesting data, and it helps you decide whether a game is worth investing more time in.
How do I get my gaming group interested in tracking?
Start by logging quietly yourself. After a few months, share an interesting statistic: "Did you know we have played 47 different games this year?" or "You have won the last five games of Azul." Curiosity does the rest. Never pressure anyone who is not interested — you can track your own results without recording others.
