ABOUT

Tabletop Library is a 24-table board game club in Berkeley, California opening in early 2026.

It's a nice place. We put a lot of effort into making Tabletop Library a place that you'd want to hang out - nice, but not showy… like a living room.

We're membership-based. Maybe you've come across board game cafes where you pay to rent a table for a few hours - those are great, but we're going for something a little different. As a member, you'll come as often as you like and stay as long as you want. Without even trying, you'll start to notice familiar faces; and with a little luck, Tabletop Library will become that mythical third place.

We have a huge game collection. Tabletop Library has over 800 games. We've stocked our collection with the most interesting rare and out of print games. If you're looking to play the latest hard-to-find game, you can count on us to be the first to have it. If there's a deluxe version of a game, that's the one we have - and we have a variety of premium components to elevate your gaming experience.

We're not just nerds. Board games are having a moment (they're bigger than pickleball). If playing a six hour game about optimizing hydraulic infrastructure isn't your idea of fun, we'll help you find something that brings you to the table - a social game that gets everyone laughing, or a cooperative game where everyone is on the same team, or a cozy card game that takes 2 minutes to learn and ages to master.

We have events most days. We've got something for everyone - game of the month, learn to play sessions, tournaments, and classic game nights like Mahjong and chess.

We have a little food. We have coffee, pastries, and a few other nice packaged foods - no alcohol or stuff you'd cook in an oven. But you're welcome to order/bring food.

We have an AI concierge to organize pickup games. Dying to try "Dust Meridian 1849", but none of your friends or family will go near it? Our members will. Text our AI concierge what and when you want to play, and it'll recruit like-minded members and get the game on the table for you.

We sell games too. We have a small retail section - accessible to non-members - where we sell a carefully curated collection of our favorite games. Members get a discount and can pre-order new games, making us the fastest and least expensive way to buy games.

We have 500 record albums. If you enjoy the excuse to standup every 22 minutes, our back room has a record player with excellent sound, and a collection of hundreds of jazz and classical records.

We host private events. Reserve tables or the whole space for team nights, birthdays, or special gatherings.

Hi - we're Nabeel, Andrew, David, and Vera. We stare at screens professionally. And like many people we know, escaping those screens is a constant struggle.

Board gaming has been one of the best hacks we've found to get us off our devices and hanging out with other people. Perhaps that's one reason it's experienced cultural, artistic and commercial boom over the last several years.

But there are still a lot of rough edges to the experience. With so many games to choose from, it can be hard to figure out what you like - especially since (for most people!) learning a new game is approximately as fun as reading an appliance manual. And once you do figure out a game you like, the logistics of finding people to play it with - especially for busy people - can be an impossible hurdle.

We created Tabletop Library to smooth those rough edges. Yes, we want more people playing board games. But mostly we wanted a place that makes leaving your house feel worthwhile. Screens are convenient. Being around actual humans needs to be better than convenient.

You're here early, before we've figured everything out. That matters to us. We'll work hard to make this a community that's important to you.