Demand for tabletop gaming groups doubles in a year as more Britons look for a seat at the table

The number of people trying to join a local tabletop gaming group has doubled in a year, according to new figures from Tabletop Group Finder, the free UK directory of board game, Dungeons & Dragons and roleplaying groups.

Between January and September 2026, players sent 4,547 requests to join groups or meet other players through the site, up from 2,212 in the same months of 2025, a rise of 106%. In the third quarter of 2026 alone there were 1,782 requests, more than four times the 385 made in the same quarter of 2024.

The number of people listing themselves as looking for a group rose by half, from 1,691 to 2,535 over the same nine months. Groups are responding: 193 groups advertised for new players between January and September 2026, more than double the 87 a year earlier.

Where the players are Kent has more tabletop gaming listings than any other county (401), ahead of London (325), Hampshire (314) and Essex (307). Among towns and cities, London leads, followed by Manchester and Birmingham, with Cambridge (76 listings) ahead of much larger cities such as Bristol and Leeds.

The hardest places to find a table are Devon and West Sussex, where about eight players are looking for every group listed. In Kent and Essex there are fewer than four.

Patrick Gleeson, owner of Tabletop Group Finder, said:

Tabletop gaming, and in particular D&D, has gone from being a niche hobby for self-identified weirdos to something normal and socially acceptable, and it’s bringing a new way of socialising and meeting new people to people, young and old, across the country. Long live twenty-sided dice!