"Gaming Tables: what features are good, long term?" Topic

The current gaming table design features are still mostly based on the now-defunct Geek Chic company's designs. There has been limited innovation since Geek Chic came onto the market, seemingly setting design standards which most current companies are emulating.

I worked with a carpenter to design and build gaming tables, for five years. I was his concept designer. He took my concepts and made them into working gaming tables. I created three concepts, two of which he built into working gaming tables. He modified one of my concepts, creating a fourth table design. He marketed three of my four design concepts, but how many he sold, I can't say, as I was not privy to that information.

He installed the finished tables in a local game store for people to play on, experience the joys of, and, hopefully, order their own from him. I had him build my own table, according to my second design concept; I love the table, but I had structural issues with it, and he went out of business, leaving me to fix it on my own, using my own labor and materials! Caveat Emptor!

Which gaming table features are really useful, and worthwhile, in the long term? Which will still be liked, appreciated, and fully used by their owners, 10-20 years into the future?

If you invest $5,000 USD-$10,000+ into a gaming table, you want to be certain that your table will still be enjoyable, 10+ years into the future of your ownership of it. It is a major investment! Careful consideration should be given, before you approach a carpenter, or a vendor, on making one for you and your group to use.

There are aesthetics galore, to consider: color, design features, and more. Some of the design features to consider, carefully, are: decorative scrollwork in the wood; laser-engraved designs in the wood surfaces; accessories using a rail system; a removable top over a recessed game well; height; game well surfaces and features; wood type (hardness, color, finish, etc.); electronics such as Bluetooth speakers, USB ports, wireless charging stations, and mood lighting; there are more features that builders offer, as well.

Few gamers really have a chance to see, and experience, all of the diverse features available. Few buyers ever sit at the table design they order, prior to placing their orders! For the most part, they buy without experiencing what their new table will offer them, without ever touching one, without ever sitting at one, and gaming on it, until their table is installed within their home.

I thought I would share my experiences for those considering either buying a gaming table, or those considering building one, themselves. I hope my experiences will save you some headaches, along with disappointments. Let's get started…

Electronics…

Electronics change, over time. Be very careful in buying into electronics in a gaming table which will become outdated, and useless, within 5-10 years!

USB ports have gone through multiple changes over the last 20 years: USB A, B, and C, thus far. We have wireless chargers for many cell phones, but this technology will change with time, as well. Your expensive electronic features will become outdated over time: either you continue to use older, compatible devices, or you upgrade the electronics on your table to be compatible with the latest systems -- if this is even possible! Bluetooth speakers are included in this warning caveat! Bluetooth has undergone multiple versions, and they won't always be backwards-compatible!

Electronics can be added to your gaming room, external to your table. You can set up wireless speakers within the room, upgrading your sound system as necessary, over time.

Cell phone chargers are not necessary at your gaming table. People can, and should, bring their own chargers -- they should be responsible for their own electronic devices.

LED lights

They do not have much range, only lighting up things within the game well less than a foot from their location. How much will you really use this feature? To me, it is a gimmick, and nothing more.

LED's along the edge of the game well will glare into the eyes of the people facing them, across the table! Take a look at them in the numerous videos online, demonstrating how they look and work… Not practical, not terribly useful, in the long term. They add cost, complexity, and labor to create, but offer little in functionality.

Inlaid TV's for electronic maps, as used in VTT's…

This is really a DIY project, as I have not seen any commercial venture offering such, in their tables. This entails laying a TV into the tabletop, screen up, with VTT terrain on the screen, generated by a laptop connected to the TV's signal input. The screen is overlayed with Plexi-Glass, to procted it, and miniatures are moved across the Plexi-Glass surface, across the VTT terrain beneath them.

I've never done this, nor have I ever experienced using a projector to shine a VTT onto a tabletop for moving miniatures around on. I investigated doing a projector, on my own Ping Pong Table, around 10 years ago. Too much hassle, and I did not want to spend the time necessary to make up VTT terrain to project! That would be another hobby unto itself, and I have enough hobbies already, thank you!

If you go this route, be aware that your table is, generally, built around the specific TV model which you utilize -- they are all unique in size and dimensions! When your chosen TV fails, and needs to be replaced, you will likely need to do some serious reconstruction work on your existing tabletop to accommodate the new TV!

By the way, newer TV's will last 10 years, at most, and likely closer to five years. You will need to re-work your tabletop, every 5-10 years.

A better concept would be to simply lay the TV onto a flat tabletop, without enclosing it in wooden borders. This would allow the TV to be swapped as necessary, though cabling issues may arise, and it could easily be bumped and moved by players. Still, it is possible to avoid the TV replacement issues, with careful planning and execution.

Rail accessory systems….

These are really appreciated by many enthusiasts. They are extremely popular in many table makers' product offerings.

I would not use them. Period. Full Stop.

They create hazards: the accessories stick out from the sides of the tables; if the players move sideways, they will hit them, possibly harming themselves, and the table! I enjoy the freedom to move around my gaming table, without hazards, but I use my table for both RPG's and for tabletop wargames with miniatures. The Rail System is a non-starter for me. YMMV.

Game Wells, with toppers to cover your in-progress games…

My first table design concept had a 4" deep game well, with heavy wooden leaves to set atop it, to cover the in-progress games. No water seal was installed -- this is not an easy thing to create, and those which do exist, have had less than stellar reviews on YouTube.

I played multiple games on this table, with friends, at the carpenter's shop. It, too, featured pull-out drawers, beneath the game well, just as my table has them beneath its solid, single piece top, sans game well.

I discovered that the topper pieces were heavy, cumbersome to install/remove, and storage would be an issue. I realized that for my use, I would end up leaving the toppers off, 100% of the time. That led me to my 2nd design concept: no game well, a solid top, with pull-out drawers underneath, at each player station.

A game well is, in my opinion, more of a novelty, than it is a functioning necessity. The removable toppers are cumbersome, heavy, and a problem for storing when not needed.

If your gaming table will be multi-functional, serving both as a dining table, and a gaming table, then you may need to go with this option. It is really the only way to cover an in-progress game, or to leave a game setup intact, between sessions. Keep reading so that you are aware of the trade-off's involved.

When I played several games in the game well table, I discovered that it was more of a hindrance, than an advantage. If I wanted to tack on extra tables to extend a miniatures game, the well got in the way, breaking up the two tabletops. I was more focused on miniatures gaming options than RPG options, so this may not matter to most prospective owners.

I found that the game well's rim, being 4"-5" wide, was too narrow for trying to put anything on it: objects got knocked off, too easily. That table had pull-out drawers beneath the well, but they were 8"-10" below the rim's level, which proved a distraction.

For me, game wells are out. Give this very careful consideration before you buy/build. Game wells add considerable cost and complexity to the table, and if you don't feel the advantages outweigh the hassles, you won't be happy, in the long term.

Pull-out Drawers… (Photolink)

There are a few table makers who offer pull-out drawers, as well as pull-out tables (similar to what you can find in household kitchens: cutting boards which pull out beneath the countertop, above a regular drawer). I wanted a pull-out cutting board style 'drawer', on rails, to use as a desktop, keeping my tabletop/game well free of books, papers, pencils dice, etc. I worked with my carpenter to make my design concept into two working table designs: one with a game well, and one without the well, featuring a solid, flat top surface. I have not found any other table maker offering pull-out cutting board desktops, on ball-bearing rails.

A pull-out, box drawer, is great for storage, but they are not great for writing upon (the reason I wanted cutting board 'drawers'). Some table makers offer a wooden slab to lay atop the pull-out box drawer, but that adds complexity, cost, and weight. You also need to store the slab somewhere, when you close that box drawer…

Are the cutting board drawers useful? (Photolink)

Yes.

Are they still useful, and enjoyable, after using them for 5+ years?

That is a complicated answer. It really is very dependent upon you, your group of players, and what types of games you run at your table.

Pull-out drawers/desktops are nice for keeping clutter off/out of your tabletop/game well. However, players must push them in, to reach onto the tabletop, to move figures. There must be clearance between the drawer surface, and the table pocket it slides into; kitchen type cutting board drawers fail on this point. Mine have 2" of clearance: barely enough for books. More clearance would be appreciated, however it would lower the drawers even more from the tabletop surface, moving them closer to the floor, thickening the tabletop as a whole; it would require more material and labor, increasing the cost.

Once the players finish moving miniatures on the tabletop, or in the game well, they need to pull the drawer back out, to access their dice, papers, etc.

After 5+ years of use, I have to say that they are a mixed bag. Some of my RPG players enjoy them, and over time, more of my players have adapted to using them. Some players, however, do not use them at all.

For my miniatures games, they went mostly unused, with players keeping their papers and rulebooks on the gaming table surface -- until I required them to remove books, papers, etc. from the tabletop, as it was all a distraction from the visual enjoyment of the figures and terrain. In effect, I forced my miniatures players to utilize the drawers. They did, and everything was much more enjoyable for everyone, having cleared the un-necessaries from the tabletop surface.

Final thoughts?…

What works best for me, may, or may not, work best for you, and for your group of gamer friends and family.

My purpose in sharing my experiences here, is to provoke careful consideration before anyone pulls the trigger on either purchasing, or building, a custom gaming table for their homes. Hopefully it will help you to make careful choices for yourself, and your gaming friends. If anyone does pull that trigger, I hope my experiences will lead you to make informed choices that will assist you in enjoying your gaming table for the rest of your life. Cheers!

Thank you, SGT Slag! Not a path I have chosen, but an excellent and well-informed overview.

(Me? I went for flexibility of shape and ease of storage--nine 2x4 folding tables, which have given me everything from a 4x4 skirmish table to a 6x12 big battle over the past 20 years. I wouldn't change--but no one's ever going to remark on their beauty or convenience, either.)

I'm happy with a simple dining room table.

I've watched several KickStarters offering various gaming tables, over the past 8+ years. Each has been successful, some topping $1 USD Million in sales/orders!

There are a very great many gamers interested in tables specifically designed for gamers, and game playing pursuits. I have not followed all of them, after they closed, to see how they turned out, but I hope every customer received what they paid for.

The Geek Chic table company is always forefront in my mind, regarding gaming tables. I've watched several gaming table reviews posted on YouTube, over the past several years, as well.

I learned that one YouTube channel got rid of the expensive gaming table they did a glowing review on, just a couple of years later, which suggested they were not happy with it!

I worked in the business, albeit in a limited fashion. I have more experience with custom gaming tables than most people do, having gamed on several different designs, over a period of five years, owning my own table design concept made into a real table, for 5+ years. Having lived with my table for several years, I know what is most useful, for me, and likely many other gamers, so I thought I would share.

There might be potential backers for a future gaming table KS here on TMP. I hope my experiences will prove informative to them. Cheers!

Stability and the abililty to store it. I'm not spending more on a game table than a dining room table. The more "enhancements" on a table the more they become the focus and it makes the table less customizable to me.

I have a 6x4 Game Topper with multiple accessories such as cup holders, mats and all. It works very well for me sitting upon a folding banquet table. It is easy to take down if I need to do so.

I have found their leg kit less than desirable, but the basic unit is excellent and comes in at less than $1,500.00 USD.

1. Clearance for legs, feet and chairs all the way around, so that gamers can either stand or sit and not bump knees/toes into table supports, storage areas, or each other.

2. A way to take the table size up to 4' x 6' or down to 3' x 4'.

2. Under the table storage, via either drawers and/or shelves.

3. Don't care about the well, as I don't typically leave games set up between get together.

Pretty much agree on the other stuff- the rail accessories and pull out "desks" and what not sound like a way to end up with unintended "bump" levers that wind up jostling the entire table. And if you have a well topper, you have to have a place to put the topper… and that's not trivial.

What I really need is a simple way to expand the table I have without storing a topper somewhere.

Portablity and flexibility. Need to be able to take down transport.

4 72x30 inch folding table and the 36x60 'kitchen' table as the base. 2 tables and the 'kitchen' table give me a 5x9 foot

Parzival, your goal in freeing up table leg support is noble, and ideal. In practice, it is challenging. Take a look at my table's support base, here.

The linked photo shows the tabletop elevated to its maximum position, around 50" above the floor. As you can see, there is quite a bit of free leg and feet space, except for the two center positions, but even those still have decent leg room.

When my tabletop is at its lowest position, 29" above the floor, a 200 lb. person can sit on the edge, and by bouncing, they can barely get the table to momentarily lift up, a few inches, before it goes down again -- it is not easy to get it to lift, it takes real effort.

Strong support, with minimal leg interference, is a challenge. Corner supports are the most basic, but they remove structural support for the middle of the table; larger tables, such as mine, would likely benefit from both corner supports, and a middle support base, but that is just one option (see my solution employed to fix my sagging tabletop, below, which has worked now, for more than a year). This is a serious challenge, when the tabletop surface goes beyond 4-5 feet in width, with the length reaching beyond around 6 feet, unless the tabletop surface is made more than one inch thick!

Big tables are heavy… My table is solid Hickory, except for the steel parts. It sits on my basement's concrete floor, which can effortlessly support it. Don't overlook the weight of your table! Make certain your proposed location for it, can support its weight (think, slate pool table, or water bed).

I had my 5.5 foot by 9.5 foot tabletop begin to sag, bending on the middle of the long axis… I had to invent my own system of reinforcing the 5.5 foot span. I did this using pre-drilled, square steel tubes, screwed to the understructure, supporting the entire span. It worked marvelously. My carpenter lacked the structural engineering knowledge to deal with this issue, and he shut down his business, ending my warranty and recourse (this is a serious issue facing every buyer -- remember Geek Chic?…).

Other carpenters I consulted, advised replacing the existing 1" thick, tabletop surface, with a new one, at least 2" thick… The cost would have been very high, and it would have added more than 100 lbs. to the whole table, which already weighs more than 500 lbs!

My situation is a testimony to the engineering challenges which come into play as the tabletop size gets beyond a certain length and width.

My carpenter created a superb table, based on my concept for it, in spite of my flexture issue. I was very fortunate in finding a way to fix the issue, without drastic alteration, or cost (well, it was around a $200 USD fix in supplies alone, but that was low compared to the cost of the whole table).

My tale is one of caution. Most gamers will not buy such a custom table, which is obvious to me. The reality, however, is that there are several thousands of people who have, in the past, purchased custom gaming tables, from KickStarters, and from table makers, selling outside of KickStarters.

My posts are aimed at them, and at people interested in building their own table, to meet their personal needs

I hope that TMP'ers who are considering building their own gaming table, have somewhere to look, for ideas, and pitfalls, here, and elsewhere on the Internet. My hope is that they will see something in my posts which will help them in their endeavors. Cheers!

"f you invest $5,000 USD USD-$10,000+ into a gaming table, you want to be certain that your table will still be enjoyable, 10+ years into the future of your ownership of it. It is a major investment! Careful consideration should be given, before you approach a carpenter, or a vendor, on making one for you and your group to use."

I will never ever "invest", (spend) 5-10K for a gaming table. If someone has that amount of stupid spend money, more power to them, and if someone needs a table with all of those gee-whiz bells and whistles that looks like it was designed and built by an out of work US Govt. Defense Contractor, well…all I can say is "Bless their heart"…

My current gaming tables are two 8'L x 24" wide giving an 8 X 4' play area. I have 1 6 X 2 and one 4 x 2 that I can attach on the end if needed. I don't need anything else.

5-10K on a gaming table? That's a lot of house payments for me there…

Ability to fold the table up and move it around based on need. All other features are secondary.