Game catalog
The game catalog your players actually want to open.
Built for LAN centers, gaming lounges, esports venues and internet cafes. Search a title, pick the artwork, add it to the catalog. Covers, genres, ratings and descriptions arrive with the title. The same screen installs the game on the floor.
- Artwork picked by you
- Metadata fetched with the title
- Installs from the same screen
One screenAdding a game, adding its artwork and installing it on client PCs happen in the same place.
Real coversVertical posters and wide heroes come from a proper artwork source, not a screenshot folder.
Filled in for youGenres, ratings and descriptions arrive with the title and stay editable by hand.
No spreadsheetThe list players see is the list you edit. There is no second inventory to keep in step.
Building the list
How a game gets added: type the name, the rest arrives.
You add the games that are already installed in your venue. The catalog handles the part nobody wants to do by hand.
Search
Start typing and matching titles come back with release year, genres and rating.
Choose the artwork
Pick from the available vertical posters and wide covers instead of accepting the first image.
Add several at once
Queue several titles and add them to the catalog together instead of one at a time.
Sort itself
With auto category on, each game lands in the category of its own genre. The category is created when it is missing.
Discovery lists
Most played and trending: see what is played before you buy it.
The catalog opens with ready lists instead of an empty search box. A cafe that is deciding what to install has somewhere to look.
01
Most playedSteam player counts, refreshed daily.
02
New releasesRecent titles, so your list does not fall behind over a season.
03
Trending gamesSteam top sellers, filtered by the country your players live in.
Country selection applies to new releases and trending. Most played stays global.
How a game looks
Game artwork and metadata: a poster, not a filename.
Every entry carries a vertical poster, a wide cover, genres, a rating, a release year and a description. The player screen uses all of it: hero carousels, cards, search and category shelves.
Getting the game on client PCs
Installing games on client PCs: adding it to the catalog is half the job.
A card that opens nothing is worse than no card. Installation is part of the same screen.
Steam, Epic and GOG
Install on client PCs
Pick the clients from a list that shows which are free, in session or offline. Send the install and each machine reports back. A failure shows up as a failed row instead of a silent gap.
Steam titles, server side, one queue
Download once on the server
The server machine can download a title once into a folder you choose, in the background, in a single queue. Half finished installs are treated as missing and repaired on the next run. Client PCs still install their own copy.
Shared accounts
Shared game accounts: one paid licence, handed out on purpose.
Venues that buy platform accounts for shared titles run into the same problem: who has it right now. The license pool assigns an account to a session and takes it back when the session ends.
A pool of accounts per game or platform
Assignment tied to the active session
Manual assignment when a case needs a human
Visibility over what is in use and what is free
Start with your own cafe
Free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Install HandyCafe, connect your clients and evaluate the daily workflow with real sessions, rates and reports. Already running HandyCafe or EveryCafe? Bring your members, balances and history with you.
Cloud and Cafeteria are included in every package at no extra charge. AI answers use credits and each package includes a monthly allowance.
The player side
The player game screen: what your customers see.
The catalog is only worth building if the screen in front of the player earns its place. That screen is themed, laid out and pushed from the server.
Themes and layouts
Several visual templates with their own backgrounds, card density and hero behaviour.
Quick launch and search
Pinned favourites and a search box. A player is not scrolling for the same title every visit.
Announcements and events
Venue messages, tournaments and event forms sit in the same screen as the games.
Pushed live
A change on the server reaches connected clients immediately. There is no round of restarts.
Before you choose
Game catalog questions.
Package structure, included services and what you need to run them, in plain words.
HandyCafe Cloud Ask another questionDo I need to own the games myself?
Yes. You add the titles your venue already owns and has installed. The HandyCafe catalog handles artwork, game details, how they look and installing them. It does not buy or provide game licences.
Which game stores does HandyCafe support?
Steam, Epic and GOG entries can carry a store id and launch directly. Anything else can be launched from an executable path or a custom link.
Can I edit what the catalog fetched?
Yes. Names, categories, artwork and launch settings stay editable. A metadata refresh does not overwrite a name you set yourself.
Does every client need to download the game separately?
Yes. Each client PC installs its own copy. Remote install sends the request to every selected client at once, and the server side depot downloads the files once into a folder you choose so the same download is not repeated for every machine.
What language is the game description in?
Descriptions and genres are fetched in the language your server panel is set to when you add the game, where the catalog source carries that language. You can edit any of it by hand afterwards, and a metadata refresh will not overwrite what you wrote.
Is the game catalog part of the package?
Yes. The game catalog runs on the cloud connection that comes with HandyCafe Genesis. There is no separate module to buy.
Can HandyCafe install games on client PCs by itself?
Yes, for Steam, Epic and GOG titles that carry a store id. You pick the client PCs from a list showing which are free, in session or offline, send the install and each machine reports back. A failure shows as a failed row rather than a silent gap.
Does the catalog cover games that are not on Steam, Epic or GOG?
Yes. Anything else launches from an executable path or a custom link. Metadata the catalog does not know can be entered by hand.
Game catalog
Set up your game list once. Keep it up to date in minutes.
Search for a game, add its artwork and install it from the same screen. The player screen does the rest.