Turning The Tables?

Question for you all: What do folks like as far as game tables? Our household doesn't have one of those dedicated game tables; most of our discretionary income goes toward buying more games. (Besides, whenever I think about it, the "game table of my dreams" quite possibly won't fit in the "house we can afford in the game biz.") However, in thinking it through, we actually have three different game tables we use for varying purposes.

Our most pick-up-and-go option is the venerable black square folding card table which we received as a wedding present a couple decades ago. It's perfect for smaller games in our living room, especially games heavy on the reading material, like the myriad "You're hunting a serial killer in an escape room"-type experiences we appreciate. (We recently completed the four-part Batman: Everybody Lies game on this table.) The squishy top has been a classic for poker players for generations, and it's still great for various card games. Probably the biggest advantage this table has is that it's lightweight and small, such that it's trivial to pick it up with a game in progress and tuck it into some corner of the room – all set up and ready to play, but otherwise out of the way. However, its relative portability is also its biggest drawback; it's light, so one errant kick can send game components flying.

Our "middle-ground" choice is also our least-used option: a long, white, plastic folding table. This one's rectangular and sturdy, with an adjustable height that lets us tweak it to various game needs. It's not quite big enough for most three-player games, but it's a nice alternative to the black folding card table. Probably its most-common use case for us is either games where we need a bit more "wide" space to play on a couch, at the expense of "depth" that the black square card table offers. Its "tied for second" use case is "there's already a game set up on the black square table, but we want to play a different game." It currently has a kit-bashed game controller set up on it – the product of a class project.

Our final option is the wood dining table. Parentally bestowed and almost as old as we are, this table is large, solid, and perfeos or RPGs), but not good for people sitting near each other. Being in a central room but otherwise not essential for daily activity, it also tends to accumulate stuff . . . meaning that, to play on it, we often need to clean it off. Still, it's sturdy and heavy – so much so that it will be all that remains drifting in the infinite cosmos when the rest of the planet is atomic debris floating in the void. Well, it, along with the junk mail that accumulates upon it.

None of the above takes into account our multifunction TV trays, which tend to get popped up whenever we need a bit more horizontal space in just the right place. Or, I suppose to eat "dinner," since we don't seem to have a table for that. (Please don't reread the first line of the previous paragraph.)

In the end, we get to play lots of games in different configurations, all to best suit our immediate needs and situations. What's your game table situation like? Feel free to share on the forums!

-- Steven Marsh