This is a love letter

Two years ago I stumbled across an Instagram post from Rathskellers showing off a concept for a “customizable affordable gaming table”.

This was the beginning of a story. I was only in the hobby for about 1,5 years and had never played on a board game table. I knew they existed, I knew that Rathskellers was supposed to be the BMW of the industry but I also knew they for very expensive. When I heard the new model “affordable”, I was instantly caught.

When the first campaign finally started on Rathskeller’s own platform, I was one of the first backers. It was more expensive than expected to be honest, as the definition of affordable is quite wide I’d say. But nevertheless I was sitting in front of my laptop half an hour before it started with my credit hard in my shaking hands. I knew I’d manage to afford it somehow. Over the campaign I sent tranches of money because I wasn’t able to pay all at once. I ended up spending a few months of my total income as a student on the table and then the waiting began. I was able to chose my own configuration without any of my personal wishes unfilled.

In march 2021 it finally arrived. After countless occasions where I got on the nerves of the lovely people of Rathskellers, I never managed to get an unfriendly answer out of them. Every inquiry was always answerd nicely and polite. And despite the long journey from Greece to Germany the table arrived savely without any damages. Packaging was sturdy enough for the journey and it only took a couple of days. Of course, there are more difficult journeys (overseas for example), but for my part, everything worked out perfectly.

Almost 1 and a half years later I’m still so happy having invested such an amount of money into this piece of furniture. Is it perfect? No it is not. But Rathskellers listens to feedback. The third campaign offers shorter legs, they introduced baby stops so the drawers cannot fall of the short sides of the table easily. I still have minor complaints that I’m going to mention here: The neoprene mats have a vignette effect. On my grey playmat it does look really nice. On my double sided mat (burgundy / petrol) it looks dirty and my guests always ask if I spilled anything on them. Now I spend money on a playmat I avoid using. It is not very resilient when it comes to scratches. I’m super careful but I do have scratches on the table leaves.

For every little flaw there are two things that are lovely. The table is extremely beautiful and special. The design with the wooden lags is fantastic and there are tons of wonderful color combinations. The cushion toppers are simply the best accessory possible. The token holders can also be used to hold the ressource stock a game has. The player stations are really cool and used very often for a lot of games. You can even use two next to each other for more space! The table leaves are stored unter the table and if you are a tiny bit careful you will never hurt your knees and they don’t need any additional space I don’t have in my small students apartement.

A gaming table like this is a complicated product. Not everything works. You cannot use a trench patrol with two table leaves. You have to be careful your neighbor doesn’t peek in your cards if you have one on the long sides of the table and use the card holder toppers. But honestly, I very rarely play with multiple players on one side. The glew on the rubber corners of the toppers (which were added after feedback – very nice!) could be better. You might have to glew them back on the toppers. If you lean heavily on the long side of the table it pushes the cellar wall a tiny bit onto the table. Not much. Millimeters.

These small issues will not reduce my quality rating. It is a 9 out of 10 for me. But as I could only do 4 out 5 here, which is to low, it is definitely a 5 out of 5, minor flaws aside. It’s like rating a board game. Just One has so few rules and components, it is not much of a target. But most of us love complex board games. I will always prefer to have a complex and innovative product over something perfect and flawless.

Just this morning when I came out of my bedroom and entered the living room I thought once again: Jesus. Is this a beautiful piece of furniture. I’m so glad I chose to support and managed to afford this table and that I joined the lovely community the people of Rathskellers have built.

I love my table, it is almost perfect

I love my table….it’s beautiful, it’s master craftmanship, made with love and passion.

I fell in love with the rathskeller tablets when I participated in a demo at Spiel 16, in Essen, Germany. These guys demoed the tablet with such passion, that I, like many others, just wanted to throw my money at them. However at that time, they did not have any “budget” tables.

Years later, when I got a bit more spare and not more savings, this table showed up on KS.

I got the large table from the KS and a lot of accessories and now I have a setup for any game. I play anything from a quick roll and write to the massive Gloomhaven on the table, well in the table, as I store the game in the gameceller between game nights.

Currently, it is setup for a game of Above and Below next Tuesday.

Everyone who comes over to play, love the table as I do.

The table is my centerpiece and I have tried to built my livingroom around it.

I think, this is the best table I have comes across. It’s quality all the way, I can set it up any way I like and for any game in my collection.

I can’t recommend this table enough.

I will end this review with my idea to make the table even better

I will make the table totally perfect by getting the straight leg, as I can’t fit 6 chairs in with the angled legs. I will get the shorter legs, as the table a bit too high when dining with my family.

Looking forward to play a lot of games in the years to come 😁

Solid Build with an Eye on the Future

By far the most solid piece of furniture I’ve ever owned, to be certain. This table feels like it will last a very, very long time. What I’m most looking forward to is the release of new products & upgrades for the table in the future. I’m really hoping for a trestle leg option, though shorter legs would be much appreciated in the short run. It’s a bit fiddly to have to set up and take down all the toppers before and after every game, but the modularity is a very unique feature in comparison to other board game tables on the market. There are minor issues here and there, but nothing that makes the table not worth the effort. If what you want is a modular system with more options and upgrades in the future, this table can’t be beat.

One Table to Rule Them All

Listen, I GET IT. Finding the jackpot of gaming tables is a nightmare. There’s a handful of copy-cat “Kickstarter” tables that look like a couple 2x4s slapped together, a few high-end options with high-end starting prices that don’t even include the gaming components, and just about nothing in-between. That poker table on Facebook marketplace is starting to sound “good enough” but you’ll always be wanting more.

Rathskellers changed that.

This is the table you’ll be proud of for a lifetime. I purchased the Large Table in Walnut with 6 chairs, a GM Station, and 4 storage boxes with 28 toppers to fill em:
– 6 cushion
– 6 cushion/cupholders
– 4 card & counter toppers (4-slot)
– 4 card & counter toppers (2-slot)
– 4 card & pen toppers
– 2 Mug Holders
– 1 Jail Topper
– 1 Triple Cup Holder

…2 trench patrols, 5 player stations, brass cupholder upgrades, and wooden angled legs. Tack on shipping to Hawaii and yeah, it cost me an arm and a leg, but I have absolutely no regrets, and know I still got a solid value when compared to other options, both low and high end.

Since purchasing this table, I’ve hosted several D&D sessions, card and board game nights with neighbors, friends, and family, and took dinner off the couch and brought it back to the table. Whether we’re building legos, painting minis, or setting up laptops to work from home, this table has become the focal point of our home and connections with those around us.

So what’s so great about it? #1 is the QUALITY. Every piece is strong, light, and well crafted. Whether we’re quickly swapping our toppers, dividing up the play space, or covering up the cellar with the table leaves, you’ll feel assured that this is a premium product. My wife loves how it looks as a dinner table, especially once we throw on some fake plants and table settings. Me? I love the way my friends instinctively settle in and set up their space with cushions and cup holders, while their eyes light up with enthusiasm to gather around the table and play.

Most used pieces:
– The Trench Patrols: I use one for every D&D session, and almost always two for card games, so that we can set up dining leaves on the side for food. They reeeeally come in hand for craft or lego nights, since they keep those small pieces from rolling away
– Cushions!: They are SUPER soft. I really like the ones that are partially cup holders, but use both.
– Advanced Player Stations: Almost everyone brings their laptop for our D&D sessions.
– GM Station: It’s the best.
– The chairs. I loveeee the chairs. They’re surprisingly comfy and really bring it all together.

Rarely used pieces:
– Card & Counter toppers: Maybe it’s just the games we play! In many of our card games, you don’t want to reveal your deck, and having them lined up in the topper slots gives a chance your neighbor may peak over. My trick is to put the topper on the inside wall angled off the corners, or just make sure no one is sitting next to you!

Nit Picky Stuff:
– My wife is 4’10”, so the table is just a touch too tall for her to eat comfortable. We took off the bottom metal pieces and replaces them with a thin felt bottom to lower the table an inch. I’d take the option for slightly shorter legs by default with the ability to raise back to the standard.,
– Shipping to America isn’t very reassuring. Not Rathskeller’s fault. In fact, their customer service is top-notch and they were very involved in the process. TNT/Fedex just has a terrible tracking system and will make you sweat a bit. But in the end, everything arrived in perfect condition.
– Brass cupholders will tarnish, which I didn’t think about when ordering! I need to take better care of them after sessions of them being exposed to skin oils and soda condensation, else they’ll keep getting black marks. Oops!

What I want as a returning backer:
– The new cellar walls with lights look really cool. Not necessary, but feels like a true upgrade to the original product
– The side table could really come in handy! All of my extra toppers are stored in boxes on a shelf. An open-face was to grab-n-go with different toppers will be appreciated, as well as having storage for the player stations. 2-stacked on top of each other as a rolling cart isn’t something that fixes any issues I currently face, but will be a nice addition!
– Shorter legs? My own solution has worked, but I’m not against a manufactured solution.

Final Thoughts:
– Rathskellers has championed this table. Customer feedback has quickly led to bonus options such as different leg sizes, the way they handle packing & shipping, and even adding the tiiiiniest little stoppers and rubber gaskets to help steady and silence the clattering of wood on wood. They give off a strong sense that will support this product for the long haul. As a returning backer, I’m nervous to spend another pretty penny on additional upgrades, mostly because the current state of the world has caused a ton of inflation, but I know those feeling with be as fleeting as ever once my purchases arrive. If you’re backing this project, I recommend being patient on delivery and active in the Discord community. The wait is worth it.

Such an epic piece of furniture

One of the last pre-backer tables came to Slovakia! Let us tell you what we think now that we’ve had it a bit.

We have a large size table, but since it’s for our living room, we also got the coffee-table-height legs for it. We tried those out recently and it was interesting. First we had to teach our two toddlers not to climb on the table while it was so low (It was VERY tempting for them. Thankfully, table withstood these shenanigans.) We found that the coffee-table-height is very good as a coffee table, but also for the kid’s Carrera Go circuit 🙂 Still, it’s a bit difficult to get them from underneath the table when they are trying to escape you 😀

We’ve gone back to the tall legs for now, gaming and especially jigsaw puzzling is much easier that way. We had a bit of trouble with the height of the table while closed, we tried mounting our sofa on higher legs and we also got higher dining chairs. Those proved the best solution, although we didn’t want to lose the sofa, so we’re still trying to come up with some solution for that. We include a beauty shot of the table with a Marvel United game set up and of laying the mat, which fits perfectly. Trench patrols have been nice too. Since we have the cutest moral support of all time (see picture of mounting the legs), the baby stoppers have been a godsend. We’ve had a few of the drawers pushed to the ground by curious hands (thankfully, nothing happened to the drawers or the kids).

One thing we would love for our table to have are toppers that fit together snugly without the rubber seal visible. It would feel much smoother, and we wouldn’t have to vacuum crumbs from there so often. Our kids shed them or something.

We mounted a table lamp on one side of the table at some point, so we can play when our kids sleep in the next room (vintage glass doors, you see). Very nice for jigsaw puzzles, too.

Overall, the table is very well made, your customer support is great and we can’t wait to try the new led lighting!

A perfect fit for me

I wanted a gaming table for a while, and the Sunnygeeks really checked all the boxes for me.

Mostly, its modularity makes it a perfect table in most situations :

Being able to switch the number and position of drawers makes it suitable from 1 to 6 players (we haven’t tried more but it could probably host up to 8 players)
-Thanks to the trench patrol you can even split the table in two for different games at the same time
-The different toppers allow for a variety of configurations depending on your preference, or game components
-The advanced player stations are ideal for character sheets or dashboards
-The advanced DM station is a must for tabletop RPG
-The cellar being removable is also really useful if you want to expand your game area for large boards/map
-And of course the leaves that can be used for having dinner without putting away your ongoing game, or gain some time during a busy gaming night by setting up two games in advance, one in the cellar and one on top of the leaves.
-They also offer visual customization with several options of legs style, wood stain, metal paint, cushions and neoprene mat color thus making it easy to adapt the look of your table to your existing room/furniture.
-And all of that is realized with excellent craftsmanship and materials, and comes packaged with extreme care to withstand the dangers of international shipping. (And in case something should go wrong during shipping, you can count on Rathskellers to take care of you)

The wood is beautiful and so soft, the legs are sturdy, and the table as a whole screams quality.
Sure, that quality has a cost, but I found it reasonable compared to the other options available out there, that don’t come close in terms of possibilities.

The one downside of modularity, is that there are a LOT of different pieces : drawers, toppers, DM station.
Being made of wood that can expand or retract due to external conditions like heat or humidity, sometimes those pieces might not fit perfectly to the mm but I haven’t encountered any major issue with that.

And of course they take a lot of storage space when not in use, but fortunately they also offer storage solutions, like the leaves storage under the table, or the storage boxes for toppers.

In addition to making a really great impression (several friends are now considering getting their own Sunnygeeks) the table really adds to the gaming experience and has made our sessions more enjoyable.

As a bonus point, the team is also always available for questions or suggestions, and has been communicating transparently on the whole process (I was a pre backer and have been following the project from well before the first kickstarter campaign)

My Dream Table!

I’ve always wanted a gaming table, and the Sunny Geek Modular Table does not disappoint! I participated in the kickstarter and received a very affordable deal, even with crazy international shipping that is the hallmark of the COVID era. The only complaint I have at all is that the table took about a half dozen packages arriving over about as many weeks! Not Rathskellers fault, more to do with customs and UPS, but it was torture waiting for everything to get there so I could put it together!

Setup was very easy and straightforward. There were helpful videos, too, which ran through the process. I was able to do all the assembly myself, just needed an extra hand to move the bigger pieces into our game space. Done in about 30 minutes.

Feature-wise, the table itself is very flexible in design and I’ve really taken advantage of the different build options. I am so happy to have a table with a topper so I can keep a long-term game going without having to tear down everything if it takes a couple weeks between gaming sessions. I bought the DM and player stations and it worked amazingly well! Really a different experience than the standard setup and enhanced our fun. And, of course, the ability to add or move the drawers and customize toppers helped to make sure we had the right setup for the games we played.

As for the quality of the table, it is very well made. The real wood is absolutely gorgeous and it makes an impression on all my players.

All-in-all I highly recommend this table! It is super adaptable and makes your furniture a true part of the games you play.

Yes i would do it again

My english is too poor to make a good review… So, you can read my review in French. Sorry for what i tried to write in english.

I pledged the medium table.

In a few words :
– delivery : perfect package. Everything was in a perfect condition.
– Production : two small problems. A magnet on the DM master kit and an other with one screw of one leg. Not a big deal. The magnet just had to be glued. No solution for the leg.
– modularity : exactly what they promised. It’s just crazy how the table can adapt to every game you want to play.
– quality : it’s just what i dreamed. Gorgeous.
– production updates : we had a lot of updates after the campaign and the team was really honest about the production and (small) delays.

In conclusion : if i had to pledge again, i would do it for sure. My only regret is that i could not have the largest table in my home to be mode confortable when playing the biggest games.

En français :

J’ai pledgé la table moyenne, n’ayant pas la place pour le grand modèle chez moi. En revanche je me suis fais plaisir sur les accessoires.

Production : rien a dire, ils ont été honnêtes et ont donné de nombreuses updates pour nous tenir au courant de l’avancement de la production. Le retard a été léger compte tenu du projet. Hyper satisfait.

Livraison : le colis est arrivé bien abîmé mais grâce à leur emballage incroyable, la table est arrivée sans la moindre éraflure. C’est pas la livraison la plus écolo mais faut avouer que compte tenu du prix de l’ensemble… je suis plutôt content.

Qualité : Deux petits défauts a signaler sur ma table. Le premier, un aimant du kit de maître de jeu s’est décollé à la première utilisation. Il a suffit de le recoller, rien de bien grave. Le second plus problématique concerne les petits pieds ajustant la hauteur de la table. L’un d’eux avait un soucis au niveau des trous de percage des vis. J’ai quand même réussi à le fixer mais partiellement. La table est installée et il n’y a eu aucun soucis depuis donc tout va bien. En revanche, je n’ai pas eu de solution proposée par l’équipe lorsque je les ai contacté.

Qualité globale : je suis bluffé par la qualité des matériaux, du design global et par la modularité. La promesse de la campagne est respectée ! La table est sublime, hyper pratique, vraiment pensée par des joueurs pour des joueurs.
Mon seul regret c’est de ne pas avoir pu prendre le grand modèle. Sur certains jeux, on est vraiment à la limite limite si on veut utiliser les petits plateaux qui s’installent sur deux casiers (Star Wars Rébellion, Endeavor nouvelle edition…). Et les topper sont tellement confortables et la modularité tellement bien foutue que ma femme transforme la table en bureau pour préparer sa classe.

Le kit du maître de jeu : Ça c’était vraiment le craquage total, mais là vache c’est hyper bien. Pour chipoter, les rebords de la partie tour à dés sont un peu trop petit et il peut arriver que les dés s’échappent. Mais bon, c’est vraiment pour chipoter.

Bilan : si je savais tout ça, est ce que je pledgerai encore ? Oui sans hésitation ! C’était un gros caprice de geek, mais ça en valait la peine. J’attends la nouvelle campagne avec impatience.

My Sunnygeeks Experience

I’ve owned the Rathskellers Sunnygeeks for about half a year now and I’m absolutely in love with the table. With this review, I would like to take you through the process of acquiring this fine piece of craftsmanship. Feel free to skip to the parts that are of interest to you!

Why I picked the Sunnygeeks

When I decided to take the next step in my more and more prevalent hobbies of board games and pen & paper roleplaying games I informed myself about tables on the market and as luck would have it the first Kickstarter for the Sunnygeeks was announced right around that time. I had compared the various features you could get and the table had a lot to offer. While there were some extravagant features other tables offered that the Sunnygeeks was missing at the time (one of them being lighting, which is offered with the Sunnygeeks 1.5) what really sold me on the table were the exchangeable toppers and magnetic drawers. Almost every other table I found used a rail system to attach trays and other accessories to the sides of the table. While I can’t speak from experience the idea always rubbed me the wrong way. I feared that players would constantly be running into them or accidently pull them of when standing up to go to the loo or get snacks. Especially during long pen & paper sessions people become less careful over time. So I loved the idea, that the drawers stood firm on the table. Also at the time this table appeared to be the only one that offered a dedicated GM-Station for pen & paper and I’m not going to lie, I might have drooled a little when I first saw it. I’ve since seen Kickstarters for tables that included a GM-Station, but as far as I’ve seen, none of them could compare in terms of features offered. So I decided to try my luck with Rathskellers.

The campaign and fulfillment

Now, if I wanted to find something to criticize, I could say that fulfillment took longer than originally planned during the Kickstarter campaign. However, that is barely surprising. Delays usually happen during these kind of things and you have to consider that there were material shortages and a global shipping crisis due to Covid happening. With that in mind, only half a year of delay is actually a pretty good result. I‘ve backed far less complex projects that took way longer to fulfill, so a little patience comes with the territory. What made the wait more bearable was the good communication of Rathskellers. I’ve joined their Discord-Server for the project and people could always ask questions and were kept up to date. What impressed me was their willingness to improve while fulfillment was happening. When prebackers got their tables, some noticed that the toppers were a little loose inside the drawers and that drawers could slide off the sides of the table. Rathskellers addressed and fixed these issues with help of the community during fulfillment. Now you get stoppers for the drawers and the toppers are tight fits thanks to rubber corners added to them. When I received my table these fixes were already included, no upcharge. Rathskellers also didn’t raise costs when the market price for wood skyrocketed. Overall, I always felt informed. Rathskellers are people pleasers and sometimes made bold statements regarding ETA’s, but they were always there to help and listened to the community. Lastly, while I didn’t personally experience issues with shipping or minor damages when the table arrived, if that was the case for some people on the Discord-Server Rathskellers always addressed these issues immediately and helped people to sort them out.

The day of arrival

Oh, how fondly I think back to it. Like my birthday and Christmas aligned on the same day. I live in Germany and the table was delivered by TNT. It is a HEAVY piece of equipment and I live on the 5th floor, no elevator. Don’t be stupid like me kids, get someone to help you carry it. But once that hurdle was taken, the rest was surprisingly easy. Everything was well and tightly packed. Assembling the table was very easy to do. I think I spent more time with the chairs than with the basic setup. I ordered a lot of add ons so it took a while to store those. The amount of packaging I had to dispose of was insane, but it was all to make sure the table arrived safely.

Being a Sunnygeeks owner

If you have read my review so far, you might already be guessing that I am a pretty happy customer. The table improved game night immensely. Everything is very sturdy and well put together und the variability is amazing. I’m playing Gloomhaven with friends on it once a week. I also have regular game nights with other games and of course pen & paper sessions held on the table. I can fit the table however I need it. I hosted New Year’s Eve in my apartment and never had such a large dinner table and once we were all stuffed I removed the dining toppers and we could start playing games. As I already stated I purchased a lot of add ons and this way I feel I can always get the right customization for every game. We were able to play comfortably on the large table with 8 players. Often we also use a smaller setup where we keep part of the table covered and use the space for snacks and boxes. For pen & paper I use a setup with 5 player stations plus the GM-station. There is so much to talk about with this table. If you consider buying a board game table, here are some pros and cons to consider about the Sunnygeeks.

Pros:
– Well-crafted and sturdy table
– Lots of customization options and room to accommodate pretty much any game
– Toppers instead of Rails
– Everything easy to exchange thanks to magnets (How do they work? Nobody knows)
– Very versatile GM-Station for Pen & Paper players
– Great customer support, open communication, everything feels very close up and personal
– Future support and additions (like the campaign 1.5)
– … and a lot more

Cons:
– Waiting for the table. If you are backing a crowdfunding campaign, you need to be patient. This isn’t amazon next day delivery.
– Price. The table is an investment and it is not for everybody. However if you love board games and/or pen & paper and want to take your game to the next level, this is how you do it.
– Some rubber corners of the toppers might loosen after some use. However, they can easily be glued back on.

I put the cons in perspective because really: I love the table. It was well worth the wait and investment and reattaching some rubber corners really isn’t a big deal to me. After this first half year, the Sunnygeeks has brought me and my game groups nothing but joy. I want to thank Rathskellers for this amazing product and hope for many more game nights to come. As I stated: If you enjoy board games and/or pen & paper and are ready to make the investment this table is a great choice. I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything I’ve seen before or since.

P.S. please excuse any errors that might have occurred during writing, English isn’t my native language, but I tried 😉

Good - Better - Rathskeller

I have the table about 9 months now and played several sessions. To make it short I love it! 🙂

Biggest plus is the customization with all the toppers. Setting up a game became a fun new experience itself. Thinking about the best layout and constellation of the toppers and trays.

Look and feel of the wood and felt pads is great. It’s heavier as one would guess from the pictures. The Magnets are strong.

Rathskellers customer service is superb. Had a reclamation and it got handled fast and satisfactory.