Leaderboards ~ Researching Existing Solutions

General Takeaways¶ ↑

Each game gets its own leaderboard

• Keeps rankings fair and game-specific.

Only rank players after a few matches

• Avoids flukes and gives a more accurate sense of skill.

Score changes should reflect opponent strength or performance ✅

• Board Game Arena uses chess-style ratings that factor in who you played.

• Steam lets devs rank things like fastest time or most kills.

Show rankings by friends, region, or global

Drop inactive players over time

Seasonal resets can help with incentivizing new players

Board Game Arena¶ ↑

(1) Each Game Has Its Own Rankings

• Instead of having one big scoreboard for all games, Board Game Arena creates a separate leaderboard for each individual game.

• You are only ranked in a game after you’ve played a minimum number of rated matches (usually five or more), to make sure the rankings are based on enough data.

• This prevents players from jumping to the top just by winning once or twice.

(2) Player Score Changes Based on Opponents

• Board Game Arena uses a scoring system similar to how chess rankings work. When you win or lose, your score changes based on:

• Whether your opponents had higher or lower scores than you.

• How many players were in the match.

• If you beat strong players, your score goes up more. If you lose to a weak player, your score drops more.

• This score is calculated separately for every game you play.

(3) Color Badges to Show Skill

• Players get colored badges next to their name to show their skill level in a specific game:

• Green: Beginner

• Yellow: Intermediate

• Blue: Good player

• Purple: Very good player

• Red: Top player

• These badges help you understand how skilled someone is at a glance.

(4) Ways to View the Leaderboards

• You can sort the leaderboard in different ways:

• Only show your friends

• Only show players from your country

• Sort by total games played, highest win percentage, etc.

• You can also click on a player’s name to see their stats, like how many games they’ve played and won.

(5) Inactivity Affects Rankings

• If you don’t play a game for a long time, you can start to drop in rank even if you had a high score.

• This encourages players to keep playing to maintain their spot.

(6) Seasons and Arena Mode

• Board Game Arena runs special competitive seasons called “Arena mode”:

• Everyone starts fresh at the beginning of the season.

• Your score changes as you win or lose games during the season.

• At the end of the season, top players get digital trophies and recognition.

• This system helps new players have a chance to compete and prevents the same players from always staying at the top.

Steam Leaderboards (via Steamworks)¶ ↑

(1) Game Developers Define Leaderboards

• Steam provides a leaderboard service, but each game developer sets up their own:

• They choose what to rank (score? time? kills?).

• They name the leaderboard (e.g. “Daily Wins”, “Hard Mode Speedrun”).

• They decide if it’s global or scoped to smaller groups (friends, country, etc).

(2) Leaderboard Entries Are Player-Score Pairs

• Each entry is just:

• Player ID

• Score

• Optional extra data (e.g., replay ID, metadata)

• The score is always a number — high score or low score wins, depending on how the developer configures it.

(3) Multiple Leaderboards Per Game

• A single game can have many leaderboards:

• One for fastest time in a level

• One for highest score

• One for total kills

• Players can appear on many boards at once, with different scores.

(4) Scopes: Global vs Friends

• Players can view:

• Global leaderboard (everyone)

• Friends leaderboard (just Steam friends)

(5) Leaderboard Reset Options

• Steam lets devs:

• Create permanent leaderboards (e.g. all-time score).

• Reset leaderboards on a schedule (e.g. weekly or seasonally).