RANDOM STEAM GAME PICKER

Random Steam Game Picker answers an important
question:

"What game should I play?"

It reads a public Steam library and picks one
eligible game at random.

It is designed for people with too many games,
too little decision-making energy, and a dangerous
relationship with the "Choose Again" button.

# FEATURES

* SteamID and vanity URL lookup
* Random selection from a public Steam library
* Fast repeat requests using server-side caching
* Temporarily block games from future picks
* Reset the local blocked-game list
* Game descriptions and playtime information
* Steam library CSV export API
  * API endpoint is live
  * UI is not implemented yet
* Launch games directly through Steam on
  supported desktop systems
* Refresh cached Steam libraries when needed
* No eight-second lag or fake roulette wheel

# HOW IT WORKS

Enter a SteamID or Steam vanity URL.

The server validates the identifier and loads the
public Steam library from its cache or from Steam.

Eligible games are filtered and one is selected
at random.

The selected game's details are returned to the
browser.

Choose Again does exactly what it says.

Games can also be blocked from future local picks
using browser-stored preferences.

Library refreshes have a 12-hour cooldown to keep
cache invalidation intentional rather than turning
Steam's API into a punching bag.

# SPEED

The application favors speed over spectacle.

A random game picker does not need a giant
animation pretending to think about the answer.

Cached selections are normally very fast, while
uncached requests depend partly on Steam's APIs.

The server uses SQLite-backed caching to reduce
unnecessary Steam requests and improve repeat
response times.

# TELEMETRY

Random game selections publish best-effort
operational telemetry to my private Mission
Control system.

This is used to see things such as:

* Request duration
* Cache status
* Library size range
* Selection timing
* Selected application ID
* Success or failure

Telemetry failures never prevent a successful
game selection.

Game-pick telemetry intentionally does NOT include
Steam IDs, vanity URLs, profile names, cookies,
owned-library contents, API keys, or raw Steam
responses.

# TECHNOLOGY

* C# and .NET 10
* Blazor Interactive Auto
* ASP.NET Core
* Steam Web API
* Steam Store API
* SQLite-backed distributed caching
* Cookie-based browser preferences
* Mission Control telemetry
* Docker deployment

# LIMITATIONS

Steam libraries must be publicly visible for the
picker to read them.

Blocked-game preferences are browser-local and
may disappear if browser data is cleared.

Direct steam:// launch links are mainly useful on
desktop systems with Steam installed.

Uncached requests depend on Steam's availability
and response time.

# FUTURE IDEAS

Things I have considered include:

* Sign in with Steam
* Permanent blocked games
* Favorites
* More game filters
* Picker history
* Saved game lists
* Shared lists
* Other game services
* Manual game entries

Some larger features may eventually become
supporter or premium features.

# WEBSITE

https://randomsteam.kgivler.com

# SOURCE CODE

https://github.com/JoyfulReaper/RandomSteamGame

License:
MIT

Copyright 2026 Kyle Givler
.