BGG BoardGames Information vs Arcade Reference
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BGG BoardGames Information
Access comprehensive board game information, including trending titles, user ratings, and news. Sync your collection and track plays by logging into your BoardGameGeek account. Discover new games and manage your collection on the go.
- Trending and Top 100 Games
- Game Search
- BoardGameGeek News & Forums
- User Ratings & Expansions
- Collection Management
- Play Logging
- Friend Collection View
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Do you want to have all the information about your favorite board game on your phone or tablet? Do you want to know what are the trending board games at the moment? If so, this is your app!!! Furthermore, if you have an account in "https://boardgamegeek.com" you can log in to the app and have all your information synchronized. This application provides access to: - Hot Games of the moment - Top 100 Games of the moment - Search a Game in the whole bible of games - General Forums - "Board Game Geek" News - Game Stats provided by BoardGameGeek (including the users rating, expansions...) - Games in your collection - Statistics - Add a Game to your collection (do you want it? do you want to play? you own?) - Your Plays (you can even log plays) - Add a Friend Collection to see his/her games MyBGG is an unofficial BGG reference app created by fans. Let us know your thoughts and what you would like to have in the app!! In following versions we will add your suggestions.
Arcade Reference
Access comprehensive information on classic arcade games from the 70s to the 2000s. This app provides a detailed guide with tips and data compiled from enthusiast communities, focusing on video games and excluding gambling machines.
- Extensive arcade game database
- Information compiled from Mame data
- Tips and reference material
- Organized game data
- Covers 70s-2000s titles
- Excludes gambling machines
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Every information about the "arcade" games just with a tap! Please note: this app does not contains any games, but information about games! This app takes all the data exported from Mame(c) and from various files created and updated by enthusiasts, it groups it together and it organizes it in order to have all the information in your device as a guide or simply as a reference for reading information and tips. Note: As a functional choice, only the "Parent" set are shown. In addition, all "mechanical" machines and all the "Gambling" games (Video Poker, Blackjack etc.) have been eliminated. The result is a list of about 3600 Arcade titles from the 70s to the 2000s. Credits: All trademarks used belong to their respective owners. See the section Info in the App for all details about the Credits.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BGG BoardGames Information at 4.2 against Arcade Reference's 3.1. BGG BoardGames Information also leads on ratings volume (643 vs 52). Arcade Reference's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. BGG BoardGames Information sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Arcade Reference sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
BGG BoardGames Information holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BGG BoardGames Information has 643 ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 38% of BGG BoardGames Information's written reviews are positive against 46% of Arcade Reference's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
BGG BoardGames Information ships an update every 2 months, Arcade Reference every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on August 1, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BGG BoardGames Information | Arcade Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (643 ratings) — better | 3.1 (52 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 38.3% of reviews | 46.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 643 — better | 52 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 170 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Emilio Exposito Cordobes | Nicola Canali |
Customer experience
BGG BoardGames Information
Arcade Reference
Bugs and requests
BGG BoardGames Information
Reported bugs
5 issues- Unable to sync with BGG
- Crashes when adding/editing game plays
- Keyboard issues when entering comments
- Images not loading properly
- Expansions not showing in collection
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to browse more than top 100 games
- Geekmail access
- Personal profile and stats display
- Filter by 'best with' player count
Arcade Reference
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BGG BoardGames Information
- Remove Ads$2.99
Arcade Reference
- Remove Ads$0.99
Questions
Is BGG BoardGames Information free?
Is Arcade Reference free?
Which has better reviews, BGG BoardGames Information or Arcade Reference?
Do BGG BoardGames Information or Arcade Reference have ads?
Which is updated more often, BGG BoardGames Information or Arcade Reference?
Other comparisons
