Core concepts
Six words carry most of the API. Each means one thing everywhere.
Listings
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| game | One title. It belongs to one creator, its maker, and may credit others. |
| creator | A studio or a person. kind says which. A person has roles, such as developer or composer. |
| place | A country (two-letter code) or a city inside one (a slug). Location is city-level, never an address. |
| event | A jam, meetup, tournament, showcase or conference, online or in a city. |
| board | One ranked list: games or creators, for the week, the month or all time. |
| key | What identifies your integration. Its prefix sets the mode. |
Identifiers
Games are addressed by slug, creators by handle, countries by code, cities by slug. These are the same strings you see in arena54.com addresses. Database ids are never exposed, so there is nothing to map.
Published only
The API returns listings that staff have approved. A listing waiting for review, or one taken down, is absent: lists skip it and its address answers 404.
Keys and modes
A test key returns invented listings in the real shapes. A live key returns the real directory. See Test and live.
A directory, not a census
Arena54 holds what makers and staff have listed. A country with no rows has no listings yet; that does not mean nobody there makes games. Say so when you publish a count.