Games Catalog
The Games page is where you decide which games your cafe offers. Search the HandyCafe cloud library and add a title with its artwork in one click. It then appears on the client desktop.
The page is opened from the toolbar. It requires an active Cloud subscription. Without one, the page shows what the module offers instead of the catalog.
Adding Games from the Cloud Library
Type a game name in the search field to query the cloud library. Each result carries cover art, a description, genres, a rating and a release year.
Instead of searching, you can browse a feed:
| Feed | Shows |
|---|---|
| All games | The whole library |
| Most played right now | What is being played across cafes |
| New releases | Recently released titles |
| Trending games | Current top sellers |
A country selector narrows the feeds to one market. Global gives the worldwide view.
Select Add on a result to put it in your catalog. A title already in your catalog is marked Already in catalog.
Metadata arrives asynchronously. A newly added game moves through Waiting to download metadata, Downloading metadata and Metadata ready. Refresh metadata pulls the latest description, genres and rating again.
Adding a Game Manually
Add manually creates a title that is not in the cloud library. Provide the game name, genres as a comma separated list, the release year and a poster.
A manually added game is marked Manually added and never receives metadata updates.
Categories
Games land in a category on the client desktop. Auto category by genre files each game under a category matching its first genre and creates the category if it does not exist. Otherwise, pick the category yourself. The default is Games.
Artwork
Each game carries two images:
- Vertical poster for poster-first client layouts.
- Horizontal cover for wide card layouts.
Choose artwork lists the options the library has for that title. Artwork can come from the online library or from a local file. If nothing is available, the game shows No artwork found for this game.
Launch Settings
A catalog entry needs a launch path before a client can start it. A game without one shows No launch path set yet. Select the notice to configure how clients start the title. This is the same launch configuration used by the Client Menu, including per-platform paths and store launch URIs.
Organising the Catalog
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Search | Filter your own catalog by name |
| Genre filter | Narrow to one genre |
| Sort by | Name, relevance, rating, release year or recently added |
| Grid density | Large grid or compact grid |
| Active / Passive | Whether the game is shown on client desktops |
| Featured | Promote the game in the client layout |
Working with several games at once
Select turns on multi-selection. Use Ctrl or Cmd click for individual titles, Shift click for a range and Select all for everything shown. With a selection you can show, hide, install or remove the games in one action.
Removing a game asks for confirmation. It removes the title from your catalog, not from the client machines.
Installing Games on Client PCs
Install on client PCs pushes a store install to the machines you choose. The dialog lists every client with its state:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Available | Idle and ready to receive the install |
| In session | A customer is using it |
| Offline | Not connected |
Select all online picks every reachable machine. The result reports how many of the chosen PCs actually started.
A game with no store information cannot be installed remotely. Epic and GOG titles may ask for confirmation on the client screen. Those installs are not always unattended.
The Game Depot
The depot is a local copy of Steam game files on the server, downloaded once and shared with clients instead of every machine downloading from the internet.
Configure it under Depot settings:
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Depot folder | Where the game files are stored on the server |
| Steam account | The account SteamCMD signs in with to download |
The account must be one of your Game Account Pool entries. Credentials are stored encrypted.
Running a depot job
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Install to depot | Download one selected game |
| Install missing | Download every catalog game that is not in the depot yet |
| Update all | Refresh every game already in the depot |
Jobs run in a queue with per-game progress: Queued, Preparing, Downloading with a percentage, Verifying, then Installed. A game already present reports Already installed.
Only Steam titles can go into the depot. A selection with no Steam titles reports that nothing applies.
Depot problems
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Configure the game depot folder and Steam account first | Open Depot settings and fill both fields |
| No Steam account is assigned to the depot | Pick an account from the game account pool |
| Could not decrypt the Steam account credentials | Re-enter the account credentials |
| Steam Guard code required | Sign in once manually with that account on the server, then retry |
| Steam login failed | Check the account credentials |
| The download stalled and was stopped | Check the network connection and retry |
Pushing Changes to Clients
Catalog changes reach connected clients through the same menu push used by the Client Menu. If a push does not go out immediately, a notice explains that the games were saved and the menu will be delivered on the next menu change or when a client reconnects.