NEWS

As we enter the holiday season, we wanted to share a quick update on construction progress—and some staff-picked recommendations perfect for group gatherings and gifting for the gamer and non-gamer alike.

Founding Membership 50% Full!

Thanks again for making Tabletop Library exist. It looks like it’s going to be a really great and one-of-a-kind space. The world really needs more places like this as a refuge from the digital world. - Joel

It’s been awesome hearing from new members who are building Tabletop Library with us. We can’t do it without your support, and invite you to be among the first to join the community. Join by December 31, 2025 to lock in the $199 Founding Member price.

Become a member →

In the meantime, we’ll be popping up at the Pickleball Athletic Club on 40th and Telegraph in Oakland to host a board game night on January 7, 2026.

RSVP here →

Construction Update: We’re Taking Shape!

Our construction permit was approved last month, and things are moving. Electrical is being installed, and our custom, reclaimed redwood gaming tables (yes—the perfectly sized ones!) are built. We’re still pacing toward a February 2026 opening and can’t wait to welcome you.

Give the Gift of Membership

A Tabletop Library membership is the perfect gift for the boardgame lover in your life—whether they’re deep in the hobby or just discovering it. Your gift activates when we open in early 2026 and includes:

• Unlimited access to hundreds of games
• Exclusive Founding Member perks
• Early launch-party entry
• A welcoming community of players ready to meet new friends

Give a gift membership →

Holiday Game Recommendations

Here are games from the Tabletop Library collection that would make great gifts this holiday season (or something to add to your “must play” list for the new year):

🎄 For Families: Flip 7 (Grinch)

A fast, festive push-your-luck game where you flip cards, chase combos, and try not to bust. Simple, silly, and perfect for all ages.

Why we recommend it: Flip 7 is the kind of game you can explain in under five minutes and start playing by the sixth. The Grinch version of the game plays the same—approachable and full of those small “should I risk one more flip?” moments that kids love and adults can’t resist. 

Buy it now →

🃏 For Get-Togethers: The Gang 

A cooperative poker-heist game that’s quick to learn, clever to play, and tense in the best ways.

Why we recommend it: The Gang pulls people in instantly with cooperative decisions, quick rounds, and just enough suspense to keep everyone on the edge of their seat. It’s one of the best “teach-in-3 minutes” games that will warrant a second play right after the first!

Buy it now →

☕ For the Foodie: Coffee Rush or Fromage

Coincidentally, both of these games have a racing element, with great table presence and replayability. In Coffee Rush, players collect ingredients and race to fulfill café orders with cute game pieces, such as realistic looking coffee beans, ice cubes, and mint tea leaves—think cozy Overcooked in board-game form. In Fromage, players engage in four mini-games spanning a lazy Susan-style board, crafting award-winning cheese in the French countryside—simple moves, big payoff.

Why we recommend them: These games shine when teaching newcomers: clear goals, tactile components, and playful pressure. Coffee Rush scratches that café-management itch, while Fromage layers familiar mechanics into delightful, rapid-fire mini-rounds. Both are easy to get on the table and instantly charming.

Buy Coffee Rush or Fromage

🖼️ For the Azul Lover: Art Society or The Great Evening Banquet

In Art Society, players bid, curate, and arrange art to build the most elegant gallery—Azul energy with auction flair, and in The Great Evening Banquet players act as event planners who have to seat guests according to their preferences.

Why we recommend them: Art Society blends satisfying spatial arrangement with just enough auction excitement to keep everyone engaged in other players’ turns. The Great Evening Banquet, from beloved Japanese studio Saashi & Saashi, is a standout choice for people who appreciate charming aesthetics and familiar drafting-and-placing tile gameplay.

Buy Art Society or The Great Evening Banquet

💕 For Date Night: High Tide or Tag Team

Fast, head-to-head two-player games that create friendly rivalry and “one more game?” energy.

Why we recommend them: Whether you want lighthearted and highly portable (High Tide) or clever and competitive (Tag Team), these make for easy date-night games. They set up in minutes and deliver that sweet two-player tension without overstaying their welcome.

Buy High Tide or Tag Team

🗂️ For the Collector: Eternal Decks or Jisogi

Beautiful strategic games from Japan

Why we recommend them: These titles are special—not widely available, gorgeously produced, and filled with elegant mechanics. In Eternal Decks, up to four players work together to fulfill patterns on the “board” (a silk handkerchief) before their deck of cards run out. And in Jisogi, players take on the roles of “dead inside” anime studio employees who gather resources to produce the best shows. They’re perfect for the collector who seems to have everything.

Buy Eternal Decks or Jisogi

🗞️ For the Person Who Has It All: Senet subscription

A collectible board game magazine featuring essays, interviews, and lush graphic design—perfect for the gamer who loves the hobby beyond the table.

Why we recommend it: Maybe the person you’re shopping for has Eternal Decks or Jisogi already? Instead of giving someone who has everything another box on the shelf, give a smart magazine with great content they’ll go back to all year long.

Buy it now →

Opening soon

Our construction permit was approved last week! Building is underway, and we're hoping to open in February 2026. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook.

Become a Founding Member

Now that we have a sense of when we’ll open, we’ve begun early membership enrollment. For a limited time, Founding Memberships are available for $199 per quarter. This grants you:

✓ Unlimited access to our space & 600+ game collection

✓ Reserve tables & join events for free

✓ 5 guest passes per month

✓ 10% discount on food & games

✓ Concierge service to find games and players

As a Founding Member, you will lock in the price for up to 2 years, have your name featured on the Founders plaque, and get an exclusive t-shirt and board game bag in addition to the new members welcome box. Plus you’ll get early access via our launch party!

Curious about our programs?

Wondering what games we'll have? Now you can browse our collection of 400 (and growing) games. They're organized by our take on a dewey decimal system for board games that we call TLCS—if you're curious, here's Nabeel talking about where it came from.

Our mission is to help you feel at home away from home, and master–or discover a new–favorite. Expect programming like:

🀄 Learn-to-Play nights: Quick 10-minute intros and deep-dive teach sessions, from bridge and mahjong to strategic board games

 🚀 Themed game nights, such as “🎩High Society Games” inspired by Downton Abbey and Bridgerton, or “All Aboard: Train Games” that cover the range from family friendly games like Ticket to Ride to Irish Gauge and expert-level games like Carnegie and Shikoku 1889

🏆 Tournaments for TCGs like Magic the Gathering, Riftbound, and Pokemon

📖 Organized play for social deduction games like Blood on the Clocktower and roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, Mothership, and Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast

🎨 Meet-the-creator conversations with the game designers, artists, and authors behind the games we love

🎒 After-school programs and summer camps to teach kids critical thinking skills and good sportsmanship

More about me

Thanks for making it this far! So you’re probably wondering, who’s this Vera Devera? As General Manager, I’m excited to help build the Tabletop Library community from the ground up and it's been a throughline of my career—from helping tech companies launch their first professional networks to growing the Oaklandish Board Gamers from a text thread of five friends into a 500+ member community.

My own boardgaming journey began back in 2014. Until then, my world was mostly Scrabble, Catan, and Monopoly. But once a friend taught me Dominion (and the magic of the “A-B-C: Action, Buy, Cleanup” turn), I was hooked. The clever card interactions, the strategic chaining of actions—it all delivered this perfect dopamine hit that made me want to explore the hobby deeper. 

From there, I moved to Detroit and its vibrant gaming scene deepened my love for everything from cozy card games to heavy strategy titles.

When I returned to the Bay Area in 2018, I created the Petaluma and Oakland Board Gamers groups to help people find gaming friends–after all, games go unplayed if you don’t have anyone to play them with! We grew quickly—too quickly for living-room tables—and the places we did find weren’t comfortable. They were too loud, too dark to read cards, too cold or windy, and we would get glancing looks from the staff and other patrons that telegraphed “you’re taking up too much space and time to play your game.” 

It became clear how much this community needed a space truly designed for play. Joining Tabletop Library feels like coming full circle. The Tabletop Library is a space designed for you and me!

I’m genuinely astounded by the care and intention that Nabeel, Andrew, and David have poured into this space—from the custom-sized tables to the impossibly comfortable chairs. Having spent many game nights in bars with too small tables, or unforgiving brewery stools, I can promise you: this is not that. Tabletop Library is beautiful, inviting, and designed for hours of joyful play.

I’m so excited to be part of this new adventure—and I can’t wait to meet you.

Cheers,

Vera

Welcome! We’re still a ways from opening, but I figured some of you might be wondering what's taking so long, so thought we'd check in.

When does Tabletop Library open?

We don’t know! We’re still waiting on some permits. We’re optimistic we’ll have them soon, and the construction team is standing by, so things will move swiftly after that. At this point, we’re guessing this winter. Promise that the next newsletter will include an opening date… or an opening date-ish.

Curious what TTL will be like?

Nabeel and I made a video trying to answer that question. You’ll have to use a little imagination… but hopefully it gives you a sense of what we’re going for.

Other than that, here are a few decisions we’ve mostly made:

• Hours will be 5pm - 11pm weekdays, 9am - 11pm weekends
• It’s a membership club - i.e. you’ll pay a quarterly membership fee vs. coming in and paying for a table. We’re finalizing pricing, but the good news is that it’s going to be inline with the expectations of the majority of you who filled out our membership survey.
• We’ll also have a “coworking” membership tier that will make the space available during the day on weekdays.
• We’re planning on having events pretty much every night. We’ve concocted an elaborate matrix of board gaming personas and hope to have programming for everyone - for those of you who love discovering new games, for families, for people who like using board games to meet new people, for competitive gamers, etc.
• Of course you can bring your friends and family to play at TTL, but as many board gamers are painfully aware, some friends and family aren’t super excited to play the latest and greatest historically accurate simulation of peat bog management in mid 17th century East Anglia. So we built an AI concierge text messaging service that helps organize pickup games with other members. You just text, “Hey, I want to play ‘Cabbage Rotation: A Century of Brassica’ this weekend, can you organize a game?” And the concierge will text other members who are interested in this kind of game until it has enough to reserve a table. (Bonus: If your nerdiness transcends cardboard, we did a podcast talking about this and other ways we used AI to help create TTL)

That’s all for now!