Make Any Room Your Game Room
Dinner is finished, the dishes are cleared and everyone is ready to settle in for game night.
You’ve played the standards, the new classics, and it’s finally time to crack out the big one. It’s time to play … Monopoly. The board goes down, the pieces are set up and everyone rolls. Flash forward three hours and the tensions are high and the atmosphere has darkened. Grandma just started using guilt tactics to talk everyone into bad trades, Dad is refusing to upgrade his houses so there won’t be enough pieces for everyone to keep buying properties and you just raised the prices on multiple plots. There can be no peaceful end to the game tonight, a truce must be called and the game must go into day 2. After a fitful night’s sleep you head to the kitchen for breakfast and you see it; the game has been hastily piled back into the box and moved aside to make room for everyone to eat. All that planning, all those monopoly bucks, the hours spent staring daggers at Dad for hoarding houses… lost.
This is the timeless struggle of family game night. If anything takes longer than a single sitting it is never finished. No “Risk.” No “Monopoly.” Nothing long-term. The same goes for bigger games like D&D and Warhammer, you simply need a dedicated place to keep the game set up if you’re going to keep it going and that requires extra space that I and a lot of people just don’t have. A little table in the living room might do the trick, but what happens if you have a cat? I can tell you from experience that waking up to your carefully laid plans scattered all over the floor by an adventurous feline is not a fun time.
I play Dungeons and Dragons and I used to have to pack the whole thing up and stash it away every night after we finished playing. All my maps were on rolled up marker sheets which made it nearly impossible to make them lay flat during game play. Everybody’s position on the map had to be saved (we took pictures of the table) before we all left and it took nearly as much time to set up and tear down as it did to play. Eventually I got sick of it and got me the Allplay Jasmine. It was a game changer. Get it? See what I did there?
What is a Modular Game Table?
A modular game table is designed to keep your games set up and active at all times, concealing them under a second tabletop during the times you are not playing. Under the second table surface is a recessed area where a game table, usually felt or neopropene, sits safely. It’s hard to explain so let’s look at a picture of the Jasmine for reference.
The edge of the table is designed to take clip-on accessories like cup holders, dice trays and all sorts of cool stuff. We’ll go into that in a bit, but suffice it to say, it is a very handy table for those of us who like to take our time playing games.
Allplay’s entry isn’t doing anything new here, these types of game tables have been around for a while. A company called Wyrmwood Gaming first popularized the idea when they created the “Prophecy” table in 2019, but their design set the bar extremely high in terms of craftsmanship and price, a standard table with chairs coming in today at nearly $3,000! What the Jasmine is doing is offering a similar design for a fraction of the price. It might not be hand crafted from Spanish Oak, but it still does the trick!
Options and Accessories
Much like similar tables, the Jasmine comes with all sorts of neat bells and whistles to add on, for a price, of course. This thing is so customizable it kind of blows my mind. Let’s go through all the options here, keeping in mind that upgrades and add-ons will raise the price from the $99 base in some cases.
First there is the color of the “play mat” (the surface under the upper table top). Blue, burgundy, green, grey and black. Then there’s the material of the upper deck table top, laminate in white or black, dark walnut or a lighter natural wood tone. They call this the “topper.”
Next are the clip-on accessories, these don’t snap to the sides like most tables, but the corners. You can get a double cup holder and a tray for holding your bits and pieces. The more time I spend with this table, the more I think corner accessories make more sense than table-side accessories, they are more out of the way and less likely to get knocked into during play.
You can also get a central shelf that divides the table down the middle, sitting snug under the topper and giving you a place to keep snacks and other things on the table during game play. They also sell nice sturdy chairs that match the table and a storage box for the topper when it’s not in use.
My setup included the base table in natural wood finish, a grey playmat and the white laminate topper. It looks really nice in both states. The slightly glossy white topper goes really nice with the wood finish
The Play Area
The 47”x36” sunken playmat area is an interesting feature of game tables like this. Reaching over the edge of the table to interact with your game takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it quickly shows its strengths. One of the best little benefits of having the table recessed like this is the dice rolling experience. The entire table essentially becomes a dice rolling tray, assuring that only the most insanely aggressive rolls manages to fall to the floor. It stops everything from falling off! Sliding cards across the table, flicking defeated enemy pieces over, it all stays on the table when there is a little wall on all sides!
The soft neopropene playmat is great too since it makes picking cards and tokens up way easier. If you’re a Magic of Pokemon player you’ll know exactly what I mean. A crisp flat card can be practically impossible to pick up off a hard table.
The Jasmine as a Regular Table
The play area is great, but how does it hold up as a regular table between sessions? Really well, actually! It might be a budget-friendly version of a much more expensive table design, but it’s still built to last. Made from American Oak and sturdy as heck, it will hold up to every day use very well. The topper feels natural and easy to eat and work on, the space between the leaves never gave me any issues. The Jasmine is their smaller model, but it still feels big enough for four to six people at 52”x41”. If you and your friends or family are on the bigger side, 6 might be a tight fit.
TL;DR Product Specs
For those of you who just need the basics, here are some specs from the product’s official listing:
- Starting Price: $499
- Overall Dimensions: 52″ x 41″
- Play Area: 47″ x 36″
- Material: American oak
- Play Surface: 5mm neoprene (removable, water-resistant)
- Seating Capacity: 4–6 players
- Topper Options: Solid wood or laminate
- Finish Options: Natural wood / dark walnut
- Accessories: Cup holders, trays, inner shelf
Who is This For?
If you play a lot of games, or if you have a long-term game you’re running, this thing is perfect if you’re on a budget. It fits in smaller rooms nicely, feels sturdy and high quality and keeps your games set up without everything gathering dust or getting messed up while not in use. If you play board games rarely or tend to play games that are easy to finish in one night, this might be overkill. It works perfectly for my needs and saved me a lot of stress, setting and re-setting my game.
About the Author:
George Berger
Ever since a young George was disappointed with a toy that did match up to the advertising, he became a tireless advocate for consumers. He’ll review anything that folks have to spend their hard-earned dollars on. George is grateful that he gets to use his skills as a writer and an artist to help connect with consumers and help them make the best decisions possible.
This article is for informational purposes only and reflects the author’s independent opinion. Readers should verify details directly with the manufacturer or retailer before making a purchase decision.
