Legacy Game Tables Review – Affordable Board Game Elegance

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Gen Con always has a lot to take in. Artists, indie board game designers, demos, tournaments, and even furniture for the discerning board gamer. I’ve always taken a little time to admire the beautiful pieces on display from a variety of companies, but we had a great table that Callahan built several years ago, so replacing it wasn’t a high priority.

And then I stumbled across the display from Legacy Game Tables (formerly Carolina Game Tables) during Gen Con’s 2025 convention.

Legacy Game Tables Dining Game Table

It was like Callahan’s table in many ways – durable wood with multiple coats of polyurethane to both protect it and bring out a beautiful shine, a bella velvet play surface to allow cards to glide across its surface, and big enough to seat 8.

But it also solved a few problems we had been annoyed by with Callahan’s table – cup holders being on the rail instead of underneath, a size that better fit my game room, and room for players to actually write thanks to the rail being 3 times bigger.

Throw in the fact that it was very reasonably priced, and I dragged our fellow Gen Con attendees over to look at it for themselves a couple days later. After some thorough and difficult questions covering materials, maintenance, and features, we were thrilled to find that this table was indeed an idealized version of what we wanted in a 2.0 board game table.

Shortly after, I worked with the new owner and we got everything sorted out so we could get it from North Carolina to Iowa with as few headaches as possible.

Now that we’ve had the opportunity to break in this beautiful new centerpiece over the last few months, we’re prepared to review the details of these tables and our experience so you can see whether this heirloom quality piece of furniture is the right fit for your family and/or playgroup.

How Big Is A Legacy Game Table?

Board game tables from Legacy Game Tables come in a variety of sizes and shapes to meet pretty much any need you can think of. Here’s a quick summary to give you an idea of your options.

Signature Game Tables

These rectangular tables also come with multi-piece toppers you can place over your play surface, allowing easy conversion into a dining room table that won’t interrupt your game. I’m adding the Breakfast and Streamer tables to this section as well, since what you get in terms of quality and features is relatively comparable to the Signature line.

Much as I wanted a Tablezilla, there was no way it would reasonably fit our space, so we went with the Banquet, which actually gave us just enough of our room back to showcase how cramped we’d been with our slightly bigger table (don’t worry, we found the old table a good home).

Those of you who have been watching us for a while might be asking why we didn’t go for a Streamer table. After having seen one at Gen Con, we steered clear for a few reasons.

First, the table was really too small in terms of total area to meet our needs. Because of the way a trapezoid is oriented, we would have wound up with a very short side and inconsistent space on the width edges, which is not ideal for a lot of board games that use square or rectangular boards.

Second, we have game groups that meet at my house who aren’t affiliated with Assorted Meeples at all – we needed a table that would optimize gameplay both on and off camera.

Third, while the description of the Streamer table indicates 2 people are recommended for each side, the ends would realistically hold only one person comfortably.

There were a number of other cool features, like places to hold clamps and conceal wires, and those would have been really nice for us. But since we got our grid set up above the table, it isn’t too hard for us to hide things we don’t want to show up on camera, so there wasn’t really a need these features would have fulfilled.

All of that said, if you’re doing a podcast and have a dedicated setup for any content creation in that vein, we’ve seen the Streamer table be used very effectively for that purpose. It’d probably even work well for RPG campaigns. For board games, it just wasn’t bringing enough to the table in our opinion.

Outside of the Streamer table, spend some quality time with a tape measure in the room you’re thinking of putting a table in. You want there to be a comfortable amount of space to get around as much of your table’s perimeter as possible, which will require 28-36 inches of clearance from your wall, shelving, or other obstacles.

This will make it easy for people to get in or out of the room, pull chairs away from the table to sit down, and set bags, books, or other brought items nearby.

How Durable Is A Legacy Game Table?

Short answer – extremely*. The wooden component of the table is made of Indian hardwood (also referred to on the site as Indonesian mahogany), which is heavy, durable, and difficult to damage thanks to the glossy polyurethane finished used to protect it.

The central component is similarly sturdy, and the fabric is bella velvet – the same type we used when Callahan was building the first Meeples board game table. I speak from experience when I say you will notice wear over many years of use, but we didn’t replace it for nearly a decade and it still has no rips, tears, or fraying.

Best of all, you can replace just that section of the table if you want! No need to buy a brand new one, and swapping the bella velvet out is both simple and cost effective.

The legs are nice and thick as well. While we elected for dining table height, you’ll find options for counter or bar height if you need, allowing you to accommodate nearly any setup without having to worry about whether your table legs are going to be able to take the weight.

Now for the asterisk. The one issue I have had with my table ties back to the polyurethane coat. My table arrived with a couple of chips and numerous scratches. Not through carelessness on the delivery driver’s end – the components were packed extremely well – but likely via something that happened in the table’s history before it arrived.

Table chip and scratches
My work is admittedly sloppy, but the clear nail polish is doing exactly what it is supposed to. The nearby scratches were from me trying to even out the blobs of polish with a small piece of sandpaper. Use a microfiber cloth to press the polish into place instead. It won’t be pretty, but you’ll avoid further scratches.

To be clear, this isn’t a deal breaker for me. Over years of consistent use, my table would likely have had defects turn up at some point anyway. The chips and scratches also never reached the wood, which would have been a significantly bigger issue. But it is a little disappointing to be forced into having these realizations a day into having the table set up.

After talking with Sarah, I found a couple things you can try for your table to help mitigate further harm should you find yourself in the same position. For chips, I recommend clear nail polish. It isn’t going to be a perfect fix, but as someone who routinely picks at scratches and chips without realizing it, it has proven a successful shield against my subconscious effort to make a small problem worse.

For scratches, I recommend Lizard Spit. It is not going to make a scratch completely disappear, but it can mitigate how much it stands out (though it may take several applications). Once your nail polish is dry, you can also use the Lizard Spit with a microfiber cloth to help smooth it out. I strongly recommend against using any sort of sandpaper; it will destroy the gloss and dull the finish.

Failing that, you can have a woodworker sand off the polyurethane coat and do a reapplication, but that is a labor of love to do correctly, requiring multiple coats to match the quality you started with, so wait until your table has a serious issue or has really been broken in before pursuing that option.

Fortunately, this problem is strictly cosmetic, and could have happened for any number of reasons. Maybe the humidity was high when the polyurethane was applied and it wasn’t quite dry when subsequent coats were added. Maybe it bumped into something when being moved to a warehouse.

At the end of the day, it hasn’t impacted our use, and we’ve already put it through its paces on and off camera, with every person being thrilled about the upgraded experience it delivers.

How Customizable Is A Legacy Game Table

If you haven’t looked at their site yet or just skipped to this section of the review, Legacy Game Tables are absurdly customizable. Lots of different colors of bella velvet, several finish options, multiple table leg heights (dining, counter, bar), cupholder options, multiple sizes – if you want it, you can probably get it incorporated into your table with one exception – electrical work.

With the exception of the Streamer Game Table, no accommodations are made for outlets, USB hubs, wiring, or anything else in that vein. The reasoning for this is simple – Legacy Game Tables are designed as heritage furniture that can be enjoyed for generations. USB ports have evolved several times in the last 20 years alone – the last thing you want is for your table to be sporting something outdated a few short years down the road!

But why stop there?

Legacy Game Tables also offers an array of seating options, including chairs, benches (both of which are made from the same wood as the tables), and if you’re feeling especially decadent, the Deluxe Dragon Wingback Chair.

Legacy Game Tables Red Dragon Wingback Chair
Image from the Legacy Game Tables site. Is it any wonder we really want one?

All of this to say, there’s a design that will complement any game room’s space, trim, shelf colors, paint scheme, or other design aesthetic you’re aiming for. And if for whatever reason there isn’t, you can always ask to see if something you want can be worked in. Sarah worked with us directly and was extremely responsive and attentive to our questions throughout the consultation and ordering process.

Buying A Legacy Game Table – Our Experience

When I left off at the beginning of this review, we had grilled Sarah (who had assumed ownership of Legacy Game Tables a few short days before Gen Con) and the previous owners, who she had worked under for years, about the particulars of the table, learning almost everything I’ve laid out to this point.

After we got back from Indianapolis and got some much needed R&R, I reached out to Sarah to start asking some more specific questions about the tables to verify they’d work with our existing office chairs in terms of height. I took measurements of our room and was crushed that the Tablezilla was simply too big.

And then we started to talk shipping.

Legacy Game Tables is based in North Carolina, and the Assorted Meeples live in Iowa, which meant we were looking at the potential for a pretty ugly shipping charge for their white glove delivery service (over $1000), which we both agreed seemed excessive. So we turned to a company called uShip to see if we could find someone willing to deliver it for less.

After a few days of some truly ridiculous shipping quotes, we found someone who could bring it to my location for a little over $500 – a perfectly reasonable price given the weight and size of the table (if you’ve dealt with freight, you know how tricky this gets sometimes).

I made sure the space for it was prepped, and we moved our old table to its new home early on the delivery day so we could be prepared later in the delivery day. The driver was awesome, and took great care to ensure we were able to safely get the table inside and set up.

Legacy Game Tables Banquet Table
While fingerprints do show up easily, a slightly damp microfiber cloth will wipe most of them away, restoring the mirror-like shine of your table’s finish. This is after a quick pass with a dry microfiber cloth on our Banquet Game Table (and there were a lot of smudges).

The topper for the table, which covers the play area so it can be used as a regular dining table, came in 3 pieces that can easily be moved by a single person. Throw a tablecloth over it, and nobody will be any the wiser regarding the secret space underneath the slats for your game in progress.

The scratches and chips came to light over the coming days, and Sarah worked with us to recommend ways of addressing them, which we majorly appreciated. Someone who works with you consistently during good points and difficult points in your purchase is a rarity, and the support really reinforced our decision to do business with her.

Price-wise, I will state we got a great deal on the table itself, as it had a plaque with the old company name on it, but even if we hadn’t, I think we would have still wound up ordering from them in the long run. A well crafted game table, as a luxury item, is a pretty big investment.

Companies like Geek Chic and Wyrmwood have shown this consistently over the last 15 years, and the increase in lumber prices hasn’t done anyone any favors. Coming in under $5,000 for a table shipped to your door is great value for the quality you get, and since their orders are done through Shopify, it is possible to split that up into more bite-sized pieces to fit your budget.

Now, months later, Sarah still swings by our streams to check out how games are working on our table, and we’re looking forward to working with her on a referral program so that we may one day be worthy of at least one of those beautiful wingback chairs.

So if you’ve been swayed by our review, let her know the Assorted Meeples sent you. And trust us when we say that you’ll be in amazing hands. Do be prepared for it to take a few months for your table to be assembled – tables are generally made to order rather than being on hand.

If you’re an enthusiastic gamer, however, I can assure you the finished product is absolutely worth the wait and will be the envy of your friends – new visitors to our studio are consistently stunned by its beauty.

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