Getting games to the table
Muster is for board-game players, households, and the person who usually organizes game night. Collections are spread across different homes, plans get buried in group chats, and choosing a game means balancing who’s coming, how much time you have, and what everyone enjoys.
A shared plan for the evening
Muster brings those decisions together. A group, called a crew, can pool its collections, see who owns each game, and choose something suitable for the people coming.
The crew can plan a game night, respond to attendance, and vote on games. Afterward, they can log the shared play, record scores, and keep a history of their evenings together.
A map of time spent playing
Your Atlas turns completed play history into a personal illustrated map. Shared evenings become places to revisit, giving the app a visual way to remember time spent playing.
What I designed and built
I led Muster from product concept through design and development: defining the experience, naming and brand direction, interface design, and implementation across the web and native iPhone and iPad app.
I developed a visual system around a person, a game piece, and a table, with warm cream, ink, and amber colors. Collection management, group planning, game selection, and play tracking connect into one experience.
I used Claude Design, Claude Code, and Codex throughout the process. Friends contributed beta testing and practical feedback that helped shape subsequent improvements.
A good pick for everyone
A game can score well for a group overall while still being a poor choice for one person. I designed Tonight’s Pick to consider the least well-matched player alongside the group average.
It starts with games the crew owns that fit the player count, available time, and cooperative or competitive preference. Explicit dislikes exclude a game from the recommendations.
The goal is a good evening for the people actually sitting at the table. That decision reflects how I approach products: understand the human situation, then make the software support it.
Where it stands
Muster has a live web app and a private iPhone and iPad TestFlight beta. Early beta feedback led to improvements in play logging, clearer timing information, and easier-to-understand statistics.
Next comes current-build device testing, observing unfamiliar users, and completing the requirements for a public release. Paid organizer features remain a proposal.
Build notes
Built with JavaScript, Node.js, Express, and SQLite, hosted on Fly.io. Muster runs as an installable web app and a native iPhone and iPad app through Capacitor.
It integrates BoardGameGeek collection import and automatic additive sync, BG Stats history import, calendar feeds, and iOS widgets. Live scoring is implemented, and offline play logs queue on-device and sync when connectivity returns.