Your phone buzzes with a notification mid-game. You unlock it to log the previous round's scores in BG Stats, and now you're checking email. Someone asks whose turn it is. The journal on the table never interrupts.
This is the core tension between apps and paper for game night tracking. Apps offer powerful features. Paper offers presence. Neither is universally better. The question is which serves your actual goals.
BG Stats alone has users logging over 250,000 plays per week, according to community data. It's an excellent app. But excellence at data analysis doesn't mean excellence at everything game tracking can do. Here's when each format wins.
Where Apps Win
Apps are unbeatable for certain tasks. If these matter most to you, use an app.
Statistics and Analysis
Apps win decisively. BG Stats, Board Game Stats, and similar apps automatically calculate:
- Win percentages per player
- Win percentages per game
- Most-played games
- Play trends over time (graphs, charts)
- Average scores
- Player rankings
You log the data; the app does the math. If you want to know your exact win rate at Wingspan or see a graph of your play frequency over the past year, apps deliver this instantly. Paper requires manual tallying.
Group Syncing
Apps win. Multiple people can sync the same plays to their own accounts. If your game group wants everyone to have their own stats, apps make this seamless. A physical journal lives in one place with one owner.
Retroactive Discovery
Apps win. Searching for every time you played a specific game, filtering by player, sorting by date—apps handle this in seconds. A physical journal requires flipping pages.
Where Paper Wins
Paper wins on qualities that don't appear in feature lists. These are less tangible but often more valuable for what game tracking is really about.
Table Presence
Paper wins. A journal sits open on the table during play. It's visible, physical, part of the game night ritual. A phone is a distraction vector—notifications, apps, the temptation to do something else.
The act of picking up the phone to log a game breaks the social moment. The journal never does. It's already there, waiting for a quick note between rounds.
Notes and Context
Paper wins. Apps have notes fields, but they're afterthoughts—small text boxes designed for metadata, not memories. A physical journal invites longer notes: house rules you tried, the chaos of the night, the inside joke that made everyone lose it.
"Mike's third comeback win in a row—we need to check if he's counting his points right" fits naturally in a paper notes section. It feels awkward typed into an app on your phone. Our game night checklist shows the full range of what's worth capturing.
The Artifact Factor
Paper wins. A journal on a shelf is a keepsake. It's a physical record of years of Saturday nights, game nights with friends, family sessions around the table. You'll flip through it. Your kids might flip through it someday.
An app database is data. Useful, but not an artifact. It doesn't sit on a shelf reminding you it exists. You have to intentionally open it to see what's inside. Most people don't.
No Barriers to Entry
Paper wins. Anyone at the table can write in the journal. No account required, no app download, no learning curve. Hand it to a guest and they can log their own victory in 30 seconds.
Apps require everyone to be on the same platform, logged in, synced. That's friction most game groups won't overcome.
Speed (In Practice)
This is closer than it seems. Apps claim fast entry—a few taps and you're done. But in practice: find phone, unlock, find app, wait for it to load, navigate to the right screen, tap through fields. That's 4+ steps with distractions at each one.
A journal sitting open on the table: pick up pen, write. One step. No distractions. For quick games, paper is often faster despite fewer features.
The Honest Verdict
Use an app if: You want statistics, graphs, win percentages, and data analysis. You want multiple group members to have their own synced records. You're comfortable pulling out your phone at the game table without getting distracted.
Use a paper journal if: You want a physical artifact. You value table presence and the ritual of documentation. You want space for notes, context, and memories. You're tracking for your household or a single game group, not syncing across multiple people.
Use both if: You're serious about both data and keepsake value. Log to the app for stats. Log to the journal for the stories. This sounds like overkill, but some game groups genuinely want both—the analytical record and the emotional one.
For most families and casual game groups, a physical journal is the better fit. The Game Night Remembered journal holds 400 sessions—over 8 years of weekly game nights. It lays flat on the table (coil binding), has dedicated fields for the essentials (game, date, location, players, scores, winner), and includes a notes section for the moments worth remembering.
For data-obsessed hobbyists who genuinely use graphs and win percentages to inform game selection, apps are the right tool. BG Stats is the most popular option in the board game community. Board Game Arena tracks plays within its platform. Both are excellent at what they do.
For a complete guide on what to track regardless of format, see our board game journaling guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I transfer app data to a journal or vice versa?
Not automatically. If you switch from app to paper, you'd need to manually transcribe entries. Most people just start fresh with the new format.
What about using my phone's notes app instead of a dedicated app?
Notes apps share paper's flexibility for notes but lack the statistical features of dedicated game tracking apps. They also share the phone's distraction problem without the data benefits. Usually the worst of both worlds.
Is BG Stats the only game tracking app worth using?
BG Stats is the most popular, but alternatives exist: Board Game Stats (different app, similar name), Scorepal, and various game-specific apps. BG Stats has the most active community and BoardGameGeek integration.
What if I already have years of data in an app?
Keep it. Past data in an app doesn't prevent you from starting a journal now. Your historical stats are preserved. New entries can go in the journal. Or continue with both.
My group plays at different people's houses. Where does the journal live?
Typically with the primary host or the person who cares most about documentation. Some groups rotate the journal along with hosting duties. The key is having one canonical record.
What about digital distractions during games?
This is real. Even logging a game in an app exposes you to notifications, other apps, the pull of the internet. If game nights are a screen-free zone for your group, a physical journal respects that boundary.
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