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.

Related MCP server: mcp-server-steam

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher

• npm or yarn

Setup

1. Clone or download this repository

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

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure API keys

   Copy the example environment file:

   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:

Setup

1. Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

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

4. 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:

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):

uvx --from node videogame-encyclopedia-mcp-server

Via npx

npx videogame-encyclopedia-mcp-server

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:

{
  "query": "Elden Ring",
  "limit": 5
}

2. steam_get_details

Get detailed information about a Steam game.

Input:

• appid (number, required): Steam App ID

Example:

{
  "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:

{
  "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:

{
  "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:

{
  "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:

{
  "appid": 1245620
}

7. steam_get_genres

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

Example:

{}

8. steam_get_top_sellers

Get the current global top selling games on Steam.

Input:

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

Example:

{
  "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:

{
  "genreId": "RPG",
  "limit": 5
}

10. steamgrid_search_game

Search for games on SteamGridDB.

Input:

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

Example:

{
  "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:

{
  "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:

{
  "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:

{
  "query": "Elden Ring"
}

14. screenscraper_get_systems

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

Input: None required.

Example:

{}

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:

{
  "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):

{
  "gameId": 12345,
  "systemId": 4
}

Example (by ROM checksum):

{
  "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