Berserk Games released Tabletop Simulator in 2015 as a physics sandbox rather than a game, and that distinction explains everything about how it works. It ships 15 classics including chess, poker, dominoes, mahjong and jigsaw puzzles, seats up to 10 players in one room, and hands you the same building tools its DLC teams use. Almost everything people actually play comes off the Steam Workshop, and only the host needs to own a paid DLC for the whole table to use it.
Starting Tabletop Simulator can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Tabletop Simulator is a sandbox game built around Physics driven objects and Steam Workshop mods. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Board games | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Card games | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Tabletop RPG sessions | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Miniature wargames | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Party and social deduction games | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Card games. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Party and social deduction games as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Physics driven objects
Every card, die and figurine is a rigid body, so pieces slide, stack, topple and fall off the edge like physical objects would. Locking an object freezes it in place, which is how mod makers pin boards down before anyone joins.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Physics driven objects works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Poker Table
The felt topped default with correct seating positions and space for chip stacks. It comes preconfigured for card play, which saves setting hand zones up from scratch.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Flick Tool: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Click an object, drag backwards, and release to apply force along the indicated line. It turns the physics engine into an actual game mechanic rather than a side effect.
Step 4: Understand Steam Workshop mods
The Workshop holds community recreations of thousands of board games, plus tables, backgrounds and RPG tilesets. Subscribing pulls images and models from wherever the creator hosted them, so a dead link leaves you with blank cards.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to RPG Table
A larger surface intended for tileset dungeons and figurines. The extra area matters because RPG Kit rooms sprawl fast once you place corridors and multiple encounters.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Physics driven objects
Every card, die and figurine is a rigid body, so pieces slide, stack, topple and fall off the edge like physical objects would. Locking an object freezes it in place, which is how mod makers pin boards down before anyone joins.
Steam Workshop mods
The Workshop holds community recreations of thousands of board games, plus tables, backgrounds and RPG tilesets. Subscribing pulls images and models from wherever the creator hosted them, so a dead link leaves you with blank cards.
Hidden zones and hands
Hand zones hold cards only their owner can read, and Hidden Zones conceal anything placed inside them from other seats. The black GM seat sees inside every hidden zone, which is what makes running a role playing session workable.
Lua scripting
Objects and the global table can run Lua, which powers automated setup, dealing routines, score counters and turn order. You never need to write any to play, but every polished Workshop mod uses it.
Custom object importing
Custom Deck, Custom Model, Custom Token and Custom Board objects take a URL to an image or model and build the piece in game. Host those files somewhere permanent, because a broken link breaks the mod for everyone who subscribed.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Assuming a Workshop mod matches the current printed rules
Community versions often lag expansions or bake in house rules, so read the mod description before the group commits an evening to it.
2. Running a role playing session without hidden zones
GMs end up hiding notes outside the game entirely, when the black GM seat already sees inside every hidden zone on the table.
3. Playing on an unlocked board
One accidental drag mid game shifts every piece's relative position and there is no clean way to restore it without a save.
4. Hosting custom art on a temporary image service
Links expire, and when they do the mod breaks for every person who subscribed to it, including you.
5. Buying it expecting the 15 included classics to be the product
Chess, poker and dominoes are a starting point, and the actual value sits in the Workshop library and the official DLC catalogue.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Physics driven objects and Steam Workshop mods
- Choose Card games as starting build
- Clear Poker Table main content
- Acquire Flick Tool or equivalent upgrade
- Reach RPG Table
- Only the host needs to own the DLC. If one person in your group owns an official pack like Scythe or Cosmic Encounter, everyone seated at that table can play it, which makes it worth deciding as a group who buys what.
- Lock the board before anyone joins. Right click and choose Lock, otherwise a stray drag slides the entire map across the table and undoing it never quite puts the components back where they were.
Tips for New Players
- Only the host needs to own the DLC. If one person in your group owns an official pack like Scythe or Cosmic Encounter, everyone seated at that table can play it, which makes it worth deciding as a group who buys what.
- Lock the board before anyone joins. Right click and choose Lock, otherwise a stray drag slides the entire map across the table and undoing it never quite puts the components back where they were.
- Set up hand zones for the exact number of seats before you deal anything. Cards dealt to a colour with no hand zone land face up on the table, which is a game ruining reveal in any hidden information game.
- Use the Gizmo Tool for anything that needs precision. It moves, rotates and scales on fixed axes and works on locked objects, which normal dragging cannot do, and it handles multiple selected objects at once.
- The Flick Tool is what makes dexterity mods work. Select it, click the piece, pull back and release, and the line shown on screen tells you the force before you commit.
- Save your state the moment setup finishes. Games with long setups deserve a personal save immediately, so a crash or a physics accident costs a reload instead of twenty minutes of rebuilding.
- Blank cards in a Workshop mod almost always mean dead image links rather than a broken subscription. Look for a different upload of the same game instead of trying to repair someone else's mod mid session.
- The in game Tablet loads a web page directly onto the table, which is the fastest way to keep a rules PDF, a reference chart or a character sheet visible to the whole group without anyone alt tabbing.
- Turn on grid and snap points for games with tight board spaces. Snap points come from the mod maker, so if a mod has none, add them through the object menu rather than fighting the physics every turn.
- Performance problems come from object count rather than file size. Bag away components you are not using instead of leaving hundreds of loose tokens on the table, which matters most in wargame and legacy style setups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all players need to own the DLC?
No. Only the host needs to own an official DLC pack, and everyone seated at that table can play it. This applies to the paid board game packs, not to the base game itself.
How many players fit at one table?
Up to 10 in a single room, with VR and non VR players able to share the same table. Larger party games work, though object count starts to affect performance.
Does it include real board games?
Yes on two fronts. Fifteen classics ship in the base game, over 40 official DLC packs license real designer games, and the Steam Workshop carries community recreations of thousands more.
Do I need to learn Lua to make a mod?
No. Custom Deck, Custom Model and Custom Board objects build components from image and model URLs with no code at all. Scripting only becomes necessary for automated setup and score tracking.
Does Tabletop Simulator support VR?
Yes, with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support, and VR players can sit at the same table as players on mouse and keyboard without any separate lobby.
More Tabletop Simulator Guides
- Tabletop Simulator Tabletop Simulator Overview
- Tabletop Simulator Best Builds
- Tabletop Simulator Tier List
- Tabletop Simulator Walkthrough
- Tabletop Simulator Tips & Tricks
- Tabletop Simulator Weapons Guide
- Tabletop Simulator Combat Guide
- Tabletop Simulator Boss Guide
- Tabletop Simulator Maps & Locations
- Tabletop Simulator Crafting Guide
- Tabletop Simulator Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy Tabletop Simulator, check out these related guides:
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- VRChat Beginner's Guide: sandbox game with similar mechanics
- Garry's Mod Beginner's Guide: sandbox game with similar mechanics
