Tabletop game

Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface. Examples include board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, tabletop role-playing games, or tile-based games.

Classification according to equipment used

Tabletop games can be classified according to the general form, or equipment utilized:

Game category	Examples
Board	Adventure board games, adventure gamebooks, backgammon, chess, German-style board games, go, reversi, Mancala, Shogi, Gomoku, Four-in-a-row (or Yonmoku), Tic-tac-toe (or Sanmoku, Three-in-a-row)
Card	solitaire, collectible card games, hanafuda, tarot card games, poker
Dexterity	Jenga, Crokinole, Klask, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Loopin' Louie, Terror in Meeple City, Don't Break the Ice, Crossbows and Catapults, Knucklebones, PitchCar
Dice	bunco, craps, poker dice, sic bo, yahtzee
Paper and pencil	Battleship, Connect 5, dots and boxes, hangman, sprouts, sudoku
Tabletop role-playing	Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, List of tabletop role-playing games
Strategy	wargames, government simulation games, miniatures games
Tile based	15 puzzle, anagrams, dominoes, mahjong, mahjong solitaire
Tabletop sports	See article.

Games like chess and draughts are examples of games belonging to the board game category. Other games, however, use various attributes and cannot be classified unambiguously (e.g. Monopoly and many modern eurogames utilize a board as well as dice and cards).

For several of these categories there are sub-categories and even sub-sub-categories or genres. For instance, German-style board games, board wargames, and roll-and-move games are all types of board games that differ markedly in style and general interest.

Tabletop game components

The various specialized parts, pieces, and tools used for playing tabletop games may include:

Stopwatch, clock, hourglass or egg timer
Meeples, Miniature figures, pawn, or playing piece
Gambling chips or play money
Game board
Game box or container
Scoreboard or paper pad
Cardboard Counter, Dial Counter, Marker or peg for keeping score/tally
Pencil
Rule manuals
Ruler or measuring device
Modelling clay
Gamemaster's screen
Bowls, trays, or component organizers
Stickers often used in Legacy games
Card sleeves used in games that have a "Card Crafting System"
Randomizers such as:
- Coins
- Dice, which can include polyhedral dice
- Dice tower or Dice cup
- Playing cards, which can be collectible cards
- Shuffling machine
- Tiles
- Tops, such as Teetotums or Dreidels
- Drawstring bag
- Spinners
- Bones, Cowrie Shells, or Stick dice, used in ancient games

A refereed game could also include various aids to play, including scenario packs and computer game aids. Role-playing games can include campaign settings and various supplementary manuals and notes.

Classification according to elements of chance

Alternatively to being classified by equipment, they can also be classified by their elements of chance. In game theory, two fundamentally different elements of chance can play a role:

Chance created by random factors, such as dice rolls or shuffled cards, making a non-deterministic game (also referred to as a stochastic game). In contrast, games that lack this randomness are referred to as deterministic games.
Chance created by hiding information to only some players that could otherwise impact how a player acts, such as other player's hands from players, making a game with imperfect information. Games with perfect information, on the other hand, do not hide information from the players.
- Additionally, some games can give select players perfect information, while others are only left with imperfect information

Examples of the chance classification for some well-known tabletop games are given in the table below.

	Full/perfect information	Partial/imperfect information
Deterministic	Abalone Chess Domineering Dots and boxes Draughts Go Gomoku Hex Lines of Action Mancala Nine men's morris Phutball Reversi Shogi Xiangqi	Battleship Block Dominoes Cartographers (board game) Contract bridge Computer Klondike which allow reset of the initial game state Liar's Dice "Scratchees" from Decipher, Inc. Stratego
Stochastic	Backgammon Craps Parcheesi Pig Roulette Scribbage Yahtzee	Blackjack Canasta Gin rummy Imperial Twing Mahjong Monopoly Poker Risk Scrabble

Organizations

List of organizations that sponsor events featuring tabletop games:

Board Game Geek organizes BGG.CON
PAX hosts PAX Unplugged
Geek & Sundry promotes an annual International TableTop Day
The Organization of Gamers & Roleplaying Enthusiasts (O.G.R.E.s) organizes tabletop events for OMGcon
White Wolf Publishing's Camarilla
Wizards of the Coast own RPGA
The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society promotes historical miniatures wargaming and organizes wargaming events such as Historicon
SaltCON LLC organizes SaltCON and the Ion Award competition for unpublished tabletop games

Additionally, numerous independent, local groups run by gamers exist to play tabletop games. Many colleges also have student-run organizations pertaining solely to tabletop gaming, the Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers being one that has a chapter at various schools.

Digital tabletop games

Digital tabletops games are digital variations of tabletop games, which include straight reproductions of existing physical tabletop games, video games that use tabletop game principles as part of their gameplay mechanics, and tabletop simulators that provide a virtual tabletop for conducting tabletop games online.

Notes

↑ distinction for reset is important, otherwise the transitional state outcomes becomes probabilistic like poker and blackjack, and therefore stochastic

References

↑ "Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers". Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
↑ "TGN FAQ". Tabletop Gaming News. 10 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
↑ "What is Tabletop?". Amelia Con. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
↑ "Card Crafting System".
1 2 3 Ham, Ethan (2025). Learning videogame design on the tabletop (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis. pp. 142–143, 151–152. ISBN 978-1-032-10297-9.

[6] stinction for reset is important, otherwise the transitional state outcomes becomes probabilistic like poker and blackjack, and therefore stochastic

[1] "Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers". Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2015.

[2] "TGN FAQ". Tabletop Gaming News. 10 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2015.

[3] "What is Tabletop?". Amelia Con. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2015.

[4] "Card Crafting System".

[:1-5] 1 2 3 Ham, Ethan (2025). Learning videogame design on the tabletop (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis. pp. 142–143, 151–152. ISBN 978-1-032-10297-9.

v t e Tabletop games by type
Board game	Abstract strategy game Connection game Tafl games Adventure board game Amerigame Constructible strategy game Cooperative board game Deduction board game Eurogame Race game Cross and circle game Legacy game Miniatures game Collectible miniatures game Running-fight game Tables game Train game 18XX Wargame
Card game	Collectible card game Deck-building game Dedicated deck card game Shedding-type games Patience Tarot card games Trick-taking game
Other	Dice game Matching game Megagame Icehouse pieces Piecepack Paper-and-pencil game Social deduction game Tabletop role-playing game Tile-based game Dominoes Games Chinese dominoes

Authority control databases
National	Czech Republic
Other	Yale LUX

v t e Game genres
Children Chance Gambling Guessing Outdoor Party Redemption Role-playing Skill Sport Strategy Street Tabletop Traditional Video
List of game genres