Groupfinder Connects Gamers Across The World

Finding your party has never been this easy

Estonia – a country of more than 2,000 islands, more forest than farmland and a population density nearly four times below the EU average – might seem an unlikely starting point for a global TTRPG matchmaking platform. Groupfinder is free to use and joins GMs and players easily after founder Holger Mets spotted a problem worth solving. We chatted over email to learn more.

"Players and groups were scattered across forums, Discord servers, and social media, which made finding a group unnecessarily difficult," he explains. What started in 2021 as a tool for Estonia's modest D&amp;D community has since expanded internationally with a redesigned website, Android app and growing multi-country support.

No Gatekeeping

Groupfinder's philosophy is clear. "We do not believe in gatekeeping in any sense," Holger states. No account is needed to browse listings. Everything is visible upfront. You only log in when you're ready to make contact, at which point you can message groups, create group chats, and use the built-in Timefinder scheduling tool to tackle what Holger calls "one of the BBEGs of the TTRPG scene" – getting everyone's calendars to agree. "While we can't fix that, we are trying to provide a tool to help players simplify the process and manage everything under one roof."

Players post profiles describing their playstyle, preferred systems and tags covering everything from roleplay-heavy campaigns to horror themes to age-appropriate groups. GMs list their games, mark open seats, and can actively recruit from player listings. "Groups can contact player posts to offer them a seat at the table, or ask additional questions before fully committing."

Bored of the Rings

While Dungeons &amp; Dragons remains the gateway, Holger is keen to expand the portfolio. "TTRPG is more than just D&amp;D. There is no one-size-fits-all system that would suit everyone. Nor should there be." A system library is in development, and any designer can request their game be listed.

Holger also has great aspirations for the platform, which has seen considerable and consistent growth since the outset. A Group Management system will consolidate session scheduling, notes, file sharing, polls and pre-built safety tools inspired by lines and veils (for those unsure, lines are veils are topics or themes that will never come up in a game). "The Game Masters have a lot on their plate as it is," Holger acknowledges. "Making sure that your world map, lore pieces and other files are easily accessible will help groups focus more on playing and less on performing archaeological digs to track down that missing piece of information shared a few months ago.”

I know I will take full advantage of those tools with my own games. It will make my GMing process so much easier and lets me focus more on running actual sessions.

Estonians pioneered connecting people across difficult terrain by building a ‘better something’ digital - in fact it’s one of the most digitally connected places on the planet; Visit Groupfinder, and join them as they continue the trend.

Perhaps Estonia is the only place it could have been created after all.