Help

Getting started

Tabletop Game Night helps a group of friends plan board game nights. The short version:

1. Add your games so your group knows what you own.
2. Start or join a group with the people you play with.
3. Schedule a game night, collect RSVPs, and see who's bringing what.
4. Nominate and vote on what to play from everyone's combined shelf.

To create an account, choose Sign up and enter a nickname, your email and a password (at least 8 characters). We'll email you a link to confirm your address. If someone invited you to a group, sign up with the email address the invitation was sent to, so the invitation finds you.

Signing in

There are two ways to sign in on the sign-in page:

• Email and password. If you had an account on the old site, your old password still works.
• Emailed sign-in link. Enter your email and choose Email me a sign-in link instead. Open the link from any browser or device; it works once and expires after a short time.

Used to sign in with Google or Facebook? Those buttons are gone for now. Use the emailed sign-in link with the same email address, and you'll land in your existing account with all your groups and games.

Forgot your password? Choose Forgot it? under the password box. We'll email you a link to set a new one.

Your game library

My games lists the games you own. Your groups see them on their shared shelf, which is what game nights are nominated from.

• Add a game: search for it by name. Game details and pictures come from BoardGameGeek.
• Import from BoardGameGeek: add your BGG username on Edit profile, then choose Import from BoardGameGeek on My games. Everything marked “Own” in your BGG collection is added. You can import once an hour; running it again only adds what's new.
• Favorite a game to pin it to the top of your list.
• Hide from groups keeps a game in your library but off your groups' shelves, handy for games you've lent out or don't want to bring.
• Remove takes it out of your library entirely.

Groups

A group is the people you play with. Everything else (game nights, the shared shelf, discussions) happens inside a group. Find yours on the Groups page.

Starting a group

Choose New group, give it a name, and pick its settings. Owners and admins can change them any time under Group settings:

• Any member can invite people, or only the owner and admins.
• Any member can schedule game nights, or only the owner and admins.
• List publicly so others can find the group on the Groups page.
• Anyone can join without an invitation (in Group settings), for a listed group that welcomes newcomers.

Roles

• Owner: one per group. Can change settings, manage members and delete the group.
• Admins: can change settings, invite, schedule, and remove regular members.
• Members: can RSVP, nominate, vote and join discussions, plus invite or schedule if the group allows it.

The owner can make someone an admin or hand over ownership from the member list. To leave a group you own, transfer ownership first. Each member can turn off game-night emails for a group under Your settings on the group page.

The group shelf

Group games on a group's page shows every game its members own (except hidden ones), with who owns each, so you can see at a glance what could come to the table.

Finding a group

Public groups are listed on the Groups page. Ones marked Open to join let you join with one click; the others need an invitation from a member.

Inviting people

On your group's page:

• Invite by email: enter their email (and name, if you like). They get an email with a link to join. They need to sign in or sign up with that same email address to accept.
• Invite someone you play with: pick people from your other groups. They'll see the invitation on their home page the next time they sign in.

Pending invitations are listed on the group page. You can copy the invitation link to send it yourself (by text, for example), resend the email, or cancel the invitation.

Game nights

Scheduling

Choose Schedule a game night on a group page or on Game nights. Pick the group, give it a name, set the date and time, choose a location (or leave it “to be decided”), and add any notes. Everyone in the group is added to it and, unless they've turned it off, gets an email.

RSVPs and what you're bringing

On the game night's page, choose Going or Can't make it, and say what you're bringing (snacks, drinks, a game). Choosing the same option again sets you back to undecided. Once you've answered, the question tucks away; use the pencil next to your name in the list to change your answer.

Everyone can see who's going, who's undecided, who can't make it, and who's bringing what.

For hosts

The host, and the group's owner and admins, can Edit the details or Cancel night. Times always show in your own time zone.

Nominating and voting on games

Deciding what to play happens in two steps, both controlled by the host:

1. Open nominations. Members choose Nominate a game and pick from the group shelf. You can remove your own nomination.
2. Open voting. Everyone votes Yes, No or Abstain on each nominated game. Click your vote again to take it back. Games are ranked by yes votes minus no votes.

The host can Set aside a game (it drops to the bottom and voting on it stops) or remove it, and can close nominations or voting whenever they like.

Group discussions

Every group has its own discussion board, visible only to its members. Use it to plan, share news, or settle a rules argument. Recent discussions show on the group page; All discussions shows the full list.

• Choose Start a discussion, add a title and message, and post it.
• Reply at the bottom of any discussion.
• You can delete your own posts. The group's owner and admins can delete any post; deleting the first post removes the whole discussion.

Posts from the old site's group forums have been brought over, so you may find a few old threads.

Locations

Locations are the places you host: your home, a game store, a friend's place. Save them once with an address, then pick one when scheduling. The address is shown, with a map link, only to people invited to that game night.

Your profile and settings

On Edit profile you can:

• Upload a profile picture (PNG, JPG, WebP or GIF, up to 2 MB). Without one, you get your initials in a player color.
• Change your nickname and name, and write a little about yourself.
• Add your BoardGameGeek username for collection imports.
• Set your time zone, used for the times in emails.
• Change your password.

Your profile is visible only to people who share a group with you. Your email address is never shown to other members.

Themes (and the crumbs)

Under Look and feel on Edit profile, pick a theme: Felt (the default green game table), Card stock, Dungeon, Meeple pop, Parchment, or Match my device (Card stock by day, Felt in dark mode). It changes right away and follows you to other devices.

On the Felt theme, you may notice crumbs collecting on the table between visits, and after a few days even the odd drink ring. Some tables have strict no-food rules. Click Vacuum table in the corner to clean up.

The morning after a game night you went to, the table is noticeably messier, and keep an eye out for a die that rolled off somewhere. The speaker button next to the vacuum turns on a vacuum sound (it starts off).

Questions and troubleshooting

I didn't get an email.

Check your spam or promotions folder, and make sure you used the right address. Sign-in and reset links expire after a short time; just request a new one.

An emailed link says it's invalid or expired.

Each link works once. If you clicked it already, or waited too long, request a new one from the sign-in page.

I can't see a group someone told me about.

Private groups are only visible to members and people with a pending invitation. Ask a member to invite you, and make sure they use the email address on your account.

Game search or BGG import isn't working.

Game details come from BoardGameGeek. If BGG is busy or down, try again a little later. Imports also need your BGG username on your profile, and your collection set to public on BGG.

The times look wrong.

Times on the site use your device's time zone. Emails use the time zone on your profile, so check that it's set.

How do I delete my account?

Email hello@tabletopgamenight.com and we'll delete your account and the data tied to it. See the privacy page for what we store.

Something else?

Email hello@tabletopgamenight.com. Bug reports and suggestions are always welcome.