Guides & How-to
State of tabletop - 2026
What 10,000 registered users tell us about the systems people want to play
Back in April we took our first analytical look at the numbers on Groupfinder. It was an overview of the active posts on the platform. Based on the games and player posts on the platform we came to the (obvious) conclusion: contrary to some niche opinions - D&D is still the king in the tabletop scene.
Since then a lot of changes have happened: **Groupfinder just passed 10,000 registered users**, and 84% of them joined in 2026. Now based on all the numbers we can see on Groupfinder, we have written up a second iteration of the article. A little something we now call "State of tabletop".
All the data is based on **4,277 player profiles and 2,686 groups** from 56 countries all over the world.
A bigger data set allows us to draw better and more concise conclusions. Of course one has to keep in mind, that the numbers presented here only represent what we can see within the boundaries of Groupfinder. And the lovely people using the platform to find players or games.
Compared to the first time, we have split the "pathfinders" into two: 1E and 2E. Pooling those systems together was a mistake. An oversight I admit was in no way helpful to presenting the data and the tabletop scene. This time, we are hopefully showing the data in a more transparent and logical manner.
The road to 10,000
The dominance of D&D
Beyond just D&D
Where the GMs are needed
Play styles: OSR, PbtA, FitD and SWADE
How people play
Do groups actually fill up?
The Groupfinder Library
Are you contributing to the numbers?
The road to 10,000
For most of 2025, Groupfinder was growing at a quiet pace. A few dozen sign-ups every month. Then November happened and users started discovering us more and more.
/images/general-media/1791299708_3O0GzTlx.pngRegistered users at the end of each month
Since November 2025 we've averaged about 850 new users every month, and it hasn't really shown any signs of slowing down. The summer dip (June and July) was expected and reflected in the user growth: Vacations happen, campaigns pause. But August and September have been two of our busiest months ever. When we wrote the first report in April, the platform had less than 5,000 registered users. Since then, we have exceeded that number by an increment of two.
The dominance of D&D
**The crown hasn't moved.** Dungeons & Dragons is still the system most people come to Groupfinder for, either as players or as GMs looking to assemble a group.
**Groups**: 59% of all groups ever posted on Groupfinder are for some edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This mirrors the ~60% we saw in April. Now that our data set is larger, we feel comfortable, that the ballpark popularity sits in that range.
**Players**: 73% of player profiles list D&D 5E, and 35% list the 2024 revised rules (5.5E). Players can pick several systems on their profile (on average they pick 2.7), so there is an overlap. But it also means that at least three out of four players are looking for a D&D game.
**5E vs 5.5E**: The 2014 rules are still far ahead. For every group running the updated 2024 version, there are 3.6 groups running 5E. Among players the gap is narrower - roughly two 5E players for every 5.5E player. The new rules have a bigger player count than there are games to choose from.
Starting out and not sure where to begin with tabletop gaming? The approach hasn't really changed: find a Dungeons & Dragons group first. There are simply more games to choose from.
Beyond just D&D
The encouraging part hasn't changed either: players who play D&D do move on to try other systems.
Once we set Dungeons & Dragons aside, here is where the rest of the interest goes.
/images/general-media/1791295582_PINPTalX.pngPathfinder 2E draws 2.6x the interest of Pathfinder 1E, which still makes the top 5 on its own.
**Pathfinder, now in two parts.** Split apart, Pathfinder 2E is comfortably the most popular system after D&D: 104 groups and 663 player profiles. Pathfinder 1E is smaller, but far from retired: it still makes the top 5 on its own, and with 48 groups it has more tables than Vampire or Call of Cthulhu. Old-school crunch has a loyal following.
**The new top 5.** Compared to April, Vampire: The Masquerade has overtaken Call of Cthulhu, and Daggerheart holds on to second place barely a year after release. Cyberpunk RED drops to sixth. Partly because Pathfinder 1E now takes a spot on the graph of its own.
**The rising indies.** Just below the top, Lancer (mech combat with a big narrative heart) and Shadowdark (old-school dungeon crawling with modern rules) are both past 100 mentions. Keep an eye on them for the next report.
Where the GMs are needed
Popularity is one thing. How easy it is to actually get a seat is another. So for each system we compared how many players are interested in it with how many groups are running it.
/images/general-media/1791299934_OD1gA30E.pngHow many players for every game post
**The horror and grit crowd is waiting for a GM.** Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk RED and Vampire: The Masquerade all have 9 to 12 interested players for every group. If you have ever wanted to run one of these, you won't be short of players. Even Pathfinder 2E and Daggerheart sit above the average.
If you are a player of these systems, don't wait for a group to appear: post your player profile with the system tagged, so GMs who are on the fence can see there's an audience. And if you're that GM on the fence - this is your sign.
Play styles: OSR, PbtA, FitD and SWADE
Some of the most interesting games out there cannot be labeled one game system. Dozens of games share the same core rules or the same philosophy, but each one gets its own name. On a system-by-system list they look tiny. Grouped together under one "family", we can get a better idea of the numbers.
We sorted every system in our data into four families, using published game lists (see the sources at the end):
- **OSR and NSR** (Old School Renaissance and "New School Revolution") - games that recreate or remix early D&D play: deadly, rules-light, player skill over character sheets. Shadowdark, Old-School Essentials, Mothership, Mörk Borg, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Dolmenwood, Cairn and many more.
- **PbtA** (Powered by the Apocalypse) - games built on Apocalypse World's "moves" and 2d6 rolls, where every roll pushes the story forward. Monster of the Week, Masks, Dungeon World, City of Mist, Kult: Divinity Lost and others.
- **FitD** (Forged in the Dark) - games built on Blades in the Dark: crews, heists, stress and clocks (progress trackers). Blades in the Dark itself, Slugblaster, A Fistful of Darkness and others.
- **SWADE** (Savage Worlds Adventure Edition) - one generic engine with many official settings. Savage Worlds itself, Deadlands and Pathfinder for Savage Worlds.
/images/general-media/1791298479_n23oMjiY.pngCounted as one family, OSR games have more groups than Pathfinder 2E
**The old school is bigger than it looks.** No single OSR game makes our top 10 on its own. Shadowdark comes closest in 9th place. But put them together and OSR games have 114 groups, more than Pathfinder 2E's 104. Add the original pre-3rd edition D&D rules (OD&D, AD&D 1E and 2E, B/X, BECMI) and the old-school crowd grows by another 17 groups.
**PbtA is the storyteller's niche.** 39 groups is modest, but every PbtA group has 6.3 interested players waiting. Every single PbtA group we could see runs online.
**Forged in the Dark is the hardest seat to find.** With just 10 groups and 7.4 interested players per group, FitD is the style where players outnumber tables the most. Blades in the Dark accounts for most of it. If you have ever wanted to run a heist, the crew is already here.
**Savage Worlds is steady.** 25 groups, and all of them run the core rules rather than a named setting like Deadlands. It is also one of the styles most often played around a real table (28% of its groups), together with Shadowdark.
A note on counting: groups run one system each, so the group numbers are exact. Player profiles can list several systems, so a player who ticks both Shadowdark and Old-School Essentials is counted twice in the OSR family. That's why we lead with groups here.
How people play
**Online is the default, but the table is underserved.** 81% of groups play online, while only 65% of players are looking for an online game. Flip it around and the in-person side looks very different: 35% of players want a game at a physical table, but only 19% of groups offer one. That works out to almost 3 players for every in-person group, versus about 1.3 for every online group.
If you are a GM with a spare seat at your kitchen table (or a friendly local game store), you are in demand. [Browse the players near you](https://groupfinder.gg/players) - the radius search will show who is close enough to join.
**Campaigns rule.** 85% of groups are running a campaign (a longer story played over many sessions), 14% are one-shots (a single, self-contained session) and 1% run West Marches or living-world games (a shared world where players drop in and out of sessions). Daggerheart is the exception worth pointing out - 27% of its groups are one-shots, more than double D&D 5E's 11%. People are still trying it on for size.
**Every system has its own table fingerprint.** Where and how people play changes a lot from system to system.
/images/general-media/1791299345_BaWJDt9f.pngDaggerheart is the one-shot system, Shadowdark is the in-person one.
A few things stand out. **Shadowdark** is the most in-person system we track - a third of its groups meet at a real table, and old-school dungeon crawls clearly love a physical map and a pile of dice. **Daggerheart** has the most one-shots (27% of groups): people are still test-driving it. At the other end, **Pathfinder 1E** is almost entirely online campaigns - only 4% of its groups are one-shots. When you've invested in a character that crunchy, you want to keep playing them.
**Weekly is the rhythm.** 63% of groups meet every week and 15% every other week. Monthly games are rare, at just 2%.
**Where everyone is from.** Half of our users are in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (9%), Estonia (7% - hello, home crowd), Canada and Germany. In total, users with a location set come from 56 countries.
Do groups actually fill up?
When a GM closes their group post, we ask why. 909 GMs have answered so far, and **57% closed because their table was full.** 24% say they found their players here on Groupfinder, and another 33% filled the table elsewhere.
Only 12% gave up because they couldn't find enough players. A further 13% decided they couldn't or didn't want to run the game anymore - which happens to the best of us - and the rest picked "Other".
Sure, we might be a bit biased here, but one in four tables finding its whole party through us feels like a good start. We'd like that number to be a lot higher by the next report.
The Groupfinder Library
We still believe that showing players more than one system keeps the hobby fresh. That's why the Groupfinder Library exists. It is a growing collection of game systems, tools, creators and communities.
Maybe you came here looking for a D&D game and leave curious about Lancer's mechs or Mothership's creeping dread. Your first game doesn't have to be D&D. Every system named in this article has its own library entry, so you can read up before you commit.
Are you contributing to the numbers?
Whether you are a GM looking for a party or a player looking for a home, your post helps us understand where the hobby is going.
**Looking for a game?** Create your player profile and let GMs find you.
**Looking for players?** Browse the groups looking for players or post your own table.
Till next time, for another State of tabletop