Tabletop Simulator

Tabletop Simulator is a PC game on Steam — available on Windows, Mac and Linux. VR is supported via SteamVR (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift/Quest via Link). The primary experience is flat-screen multiplayer; VR is an additional mode. Quest users need a PC connection via Oculus Link or Air Link. The VR mode is functional but has historically been considered underdeveloped — however Tabletop Simulator 2.0 (announced 2025) includes a full VR rework with a modern foundation and VR-friendly UI.

What is Tabletop Simulator?

Tabletop Simulator (TTS) is the definitive virtual tabletop platform — a physics sandbox that lets you play virtually any board game, card game, war game or RPG ever created, either from its base library of 20 classic games or from the thousands of community-made Workshop mods. Developed by Berserk Games, a two-person indie studio, since 2015, it has accumulated over 2 million owners and a 96% Overwhelmingly Positive rating from 31,000+ Steam reviews — one of the most beloved gaming platforms of the past decade.

The concept is beautifully simple: a physics-accurate virtual tabletop where you pick up pieces, flip cards, roll dice, move figurines and interact with a game table just as you would in real life. There are no enforced rules — the game does not know the rules of Chess or Catan; it simply provides the pieces, the physics and the table. Players apply the rules themselves, which is simultaneously TTS's greatest strength (total flexibility) and its main challenge (someone needs to know the rules).

The Steam Workshop integration is what makes TTS truly remarkable. The community has recreated thousands of real board games — including premium titles like Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Wingspan, Gloomhaven and countless others — as free Workshop mods. This makes TTS the most cost-effective way to try board games digitally. For schools, this means access to virtually the entire history of board gaming for the price of a single $19.99 licence.

What Can You Do?

Curriculum & Educational Fit

Tabletop Simulator is most valuable in schools as a board games club platform — offering access to essentially all of board gaming history for a one-time cost. For Maths, Chess, Go, and strategy games build logical thinking, probability and spatial reasoning directly. For Computing, the Lua scripting system is a genuine programming environment for game rules — students can create and automate custom games. For DT, the custom board and piece creation tools provide a digital game prototyping environment with direct real-world application. As a social and collaborative tool, TTS is outstanding — requiring communication, rule-following, strategic cooperation and graceful handling of loss. The VR component adds a layer of novelty and immersion for headset-equipped sessions but is not the reason to buy this. The flat-screen multiplayer is the core value, and it is exceptional.