This post is done in partnership with Rathskellers to provide our honest thoughts and experience using the Sunnygeeks Table with you.

Find the Sunnygeeks Game Table Campaign here on Gamefound

There’s something magical about gathering around the table for game night. And if game nights are part of your family’s weekly routine, it’s likely you’ve looked into finding a table made specifically for game lovers. We know first hand that not all tables are created equal when it comes to game night. After designing our Rathskellers Garrison coffee gaming table to our home, we saw first hand how nice it having a table designed for playing games while still being a functional furniture piece for everything else life brings.

We were looking at a few options for a new table in our game room and since we have LOVED our experience with the Garrison coffee table, we naturally looked at Rathskellers. As we were talking with them, the Rathskellers team asked if we’d like to try out their Sunnygeeks modular gaming table and provide our thoughts on it and how it functions for a family. Since we’ve had such a good experience with our Garrison, we were excited at the chance to put the Sunnygeeks through it’s paces with our family to share our thoughts on it with you and hopefully help you if you’re in the process of looking at investing in a gaming table for your family.

From our first impressions and set up, to what we absolutely love and what you may want to skip, let’s dive in!

What exactly is the Sunnygeeks game table? 

The Sunnygeeks gaming table is a modular, magnetic table you can customize and use for all sorts of games while still using as you would a regular dining table. 

A game table has a recessed central area called the cellar. Unlike most gaming tables where the cellar and sides of the table are fixed, the Sunnygeeks’ cellar is formed with magnetic cellar walls and drawers. These drawers can be moved around the table, customized with toppers, or removed entirely to suit your needs.

There’s truly so many options for the table and ways you can utilize it that it is a bit overwhelming at first!

Shipping and Set Up

Buying a luxury item like this is nerve-racking for a lot of reasons, but especially when shipping from overseas. The Sunnygeeks table is made in Greece so for a lot of folks, it’ll be quite a ways the table will need to travel before it arrives in your gaming room. I was so pleased with how well the table was packaged. Everything was protected thoroughly against any bumps or bruising it might sustain during the long shipment journey.

The table ships nearly fully assembled, which is incredible and makes the set up time take mere minutes. It took longer to bring all of the packages into our house than it did to assemble the table itself. This also contributes to the tables sturdiness. You aren’t needing to assemble it in multiple pieces; it’s a solid wooden table.

All you have to do is attach the four legs with the provided tools, add the under table leaves storage, and you’re essentially done. Just flip your table over, add the drawers and you can start playing! It truly couldn’t be easier. 

You can watch our set up experience here!

First Visual Impressions

As we were unboxing the table, I got so excited seeing the beautiful wood tones and was further excited once we stood back and took a look at it for the first time. 

Our table is in the Walnut color which is gorgeous. Truly stunning in the room. The dark stain feels luxurious and there’s no point in the day where it doesn’t look good. It’s timeless. 

Even the combination of metal and wood works well together.

Design, Aesthetics, and Quality

Rathskellers was kind enough to let us choose some of the finishings like color and leg design. You can choose a wooden leg for the table over metal legs. As a parent who is constantly cleaning and having kids running all over doing all manner of activities, I thought the metal legs was probably the wiser call as the wooden legs are more on the fancier side and I needed something that could hold up to a vacuum nicking it from time to time. 

(Happy to say that the legs have passed the vacuum test! No scuffs or dents to be found!)

There are multiple color options for the table, legs, and drawer toppers so that you can create a table that blends in well with your home decor. 

I tend to shy away from things that feel too “gamer-y” in my home. Few things are more “gamer-y” than a game table but we think the Sunnygeeks does a good job of blending in. The side drawers around the table almost fade away with the dark stain when you have the toppers on. It’s still very much a modern looking table, perhaps even with a bit of a Scandinavian design, but it still hides the gamer aspect of it well, so much so that our guests haven’t suspected a thing. 

The entire table is built like a tank. This is not a flimsy gaming table, it is VERY heavy, the wood is strong, and everything feels built to last just as it should be. When comparing it to our Garrison Rathskellers table, it feels just as quality made. The Sunnygeeks may be designed as the more affordable option, but in our opinion, there hasn’t been a compromise in quality.

The Pros and Cons of a Modular Table. Our practical use and experience with the Sunnygeeks Game Table.

I’ll admit, I was hesitant about the magnetic drawers. I had the hardest time imagining how they would work. Would they be too finicky? Would the toppers be annoying to swap? How would we store everything? Is the modular nature just a gimmick that isn’t actually helpful? 

I did NOT go into this thinking that I would love these modular drawers. In fact, I almost didn’t want to review the table because of them. But it’s so hard to find any real reviews from families on these tables we wanted to give it a test from that viewpoint.

So far I have been pleasantly surprised by them! I really like that there isn’t the pressure of being locked in to where things like your cup holders or trays go. You can move them around the table and adjust their placement as needed. We do this all the time.

Similarly, if you have a favorite drawer topper, like the one that holds cards for instance, you can swap it with wherever you are wanting to sit. 

We have been surprised by how much we swap the drawer toppers around. It’s SO EASY to customize the table to fit each player individually. For instance, I prefer the wooden drawer toppers when I’m playing while Adam likes the softer neoprene ones. We are able to set up our area just how we like for each game, we don’t have to compromise and we aren’t locked in like we would be even on most any other table. You can also leave your drawers open without a topper so you can use it to hold things like dice, pencils, or other items you may want to keep hidden during a game like victory points or coins.

When the dining toppers are on, you can still access the side drawers by pulling them out. We’ve been keeping things like decks of cards, pencils, and even a drawer of LEGO bricks stored around the table for easy use. 

You do have to take the drawer tops off and store them inside the cellar when the dining toppers are on, but it’s easy to take them off and put them back on when you’re ready to play again. There will be an optional strip that you can add during the Gamefound campaign that attaches to the top of the cellar walls, this allows you to keep the drawer tops on with the dining toppers should that be important to you.

Now these drawers are meant to come off. They attach by magnets, which are relatively strong, but they’re still meant to come off easily so that you can move them around the table as needed. If you have someone that’s messing with them and pulling on them, say a toddler or a guest who is leaning heavily on the table, they may slide them off.

There are baby stops that you can put on the corners which help keep the drawers from sliding off the table and are near invisible to the eye. I would use these regardless of whether I had children or not. They’re just a nice security feature. 

Like any piece of furniture, this will work great for some while others will want something different. The modular drawers do make the table better able to grow with your family from day to day and year to year rather than just being locked in to a specific configuration, particularly if the accessories portion of a game table is of high importance to you. 

Dining Toppers and Storage

For me, a non negotiable with a gaming table is the ability to use it as a regular table. The Sunnygeeks has Dining Toppers that attach with VER strong magnets to the top so they don’t slip and slide around. They work incredibly well and the table looks great when they’re on.

One of the things you’ll want to consider is how you’ll store the toppers when you’re laying in the cellar of the table. There are a few ways you can do that with the Sunnygeeks options.

You can store the leaves under the table with the storage bars. These screw in underneath your table. They work well and we’ve never had the bars hit our legs when playing. This is the best and most economical option and works quite well with the toppers being easy to slide under the table without obstructing our leg room.

Another storage option for the dining toppers is the VeLARC storage bench. This is sized perfectly for your table, and can be slid underneath when not in use, but it also has slots to hold each of the toppers under the bench.

If bench seating isn’t your style, there’s a vertical rolling storage option which is my personal favorite. There are also upgrades for this, allowing you to add things like a spot to store the trench patrol, play mat storage, or a magazine rack, and even a cushioned lid. For our use, we only have the cushioned lid on the storage unit when not in use and haven’t found a need for the other extras with our family’s gaming style. 

Drawers and Drawer Topper Accessories. 

Like I said above, there are so many options and ways to customize the table that it can feel overwhelming, especially when it comes to the drawers and toppers. You can truly go crazy as there’s an option for almost everything.

This is one area where you may feel like you need to get more than you need. But I’m here to tell you that I genuinely think you only need to get the number of drawers specific to your table size. Extras probably aren’t necessary, especially if you are board gamer first. (RPG players may feel differently.) 

For drawer storage when not in use around the table, there’s an option called the Odysseus. This is a solidly built box and works well and can be rolled around. I like how the drawer toppers slide into the sides so they’re easy to grab if you want to swap them in and out. You can also use the cushioned top as a seat. 

If you have even more drawers to store, there is the large metal Vault which can stack a bunch of extra drawers using the metal sides. We really like how you’re able to store extra drawers with their toppers on using this option. 

However, with both, they are larger and bulky and will require you to have a lot of extra space to accommodate them.

What we’ve learned with our first game table and have confirmed with the Sunnygeeks, is that you really don’t need nearly as many accessories as you think you will. Needing to store everything you aren’t using can be a pain, so I would keep that in mind when the time comes that you are ready to order and outfit your game table.

For the Sunnygeeks, I would order just the amount of drawers you need, and then enough toppers to go on those drawers. The only extra things you may want are a few additional toppers. If you go this route, there’s a nice storage box that is designed to just hold extra drawer tops. This is my favorite option out of everything and it’s what we use most.

Our Favorite and Least Favorite Accessories for the Sunnygeeks Game Table

But which add ons should you get? Here are our top faves and those we’d skip!

Our favorite accessories

Card and Pen toppers: We have one of these and I’d seriously take 9 more. They are fantastic; our most used topper by far.

Cup holder toppers: Whether you get them with the cushions or not, a grab a few cup holder toppers for your drawers. These are great not only for drinks, but snacks and components too! There’s even a few that have multiple cup options which are nice for variety. 

Dual Cellar Riser: These strips allow you to put the dining toppers on without taking off the drawer tops. This is definitely something I’d consider adding on just for further ease of use.

Trench Patrol. This is a strip of wood that blocks dice from going under the leaves if you leave one of your dining toppers on during play. We do this a lot so that we can have snacks and such elevated out of the gaming cellar and just store it inside the cellar when all the toppers are on. Recommend. 

Accessories we like

Player Station: this is probably more of a soft favorite, but having one or two player stations might be nice. If you play a lot of games where you need to write on a sheet or you just want a little table-like thing next to you, these work well. 

Four Slot Topper: these toppers have four recessed circles you can use to organize your bits and pieces. It’s come in handy for some of our larger games, but I wouldn’t say it’s a must have if you’re on the fence.

Accessories We’d Skip

LED lighting: This is something that is absolutely cool, but 100% not necessary.

I personally don’t like them on when playing. The lights sometimes make it difficult for me to see the game or read cards because there’s a light in your face. Plus you have the cords that need to be snaked around and plugged in — if you’re in the US, you’ll need to use an adapter too. But it is cool though. You can adjust the lights with an app so you can indicate everyone’s player colors, or create some mood lighting. It’s a wow factor for sure.

Is a Game Table Worth the Investment? 

No doubt, a game table is a luxury purchase for gamers and a significant investment for your family and hobby. It’s great for some, but not a good fit for others. 

If your family gathers around the table frequently to play games of all sorts, multiple times a week, it’s highly likely that a game table will be a welcome addition to your home.

One of the biggest benefits of having a game table for us is the ability to set up larger games in the game cellar, play, and then leave the game set up for another day while putting the toppers on to still have a usable table. This saves us time and allows us to enjoy more family experiences like legacy games or longer, heavier games we like playing for date nights without needing to set up a component heavy game again and again. We absolutely play more of the larger games we love since getting a game table than we did before simply because it’s more convenient to do so. 

As a parent, I greatly enjoy using the cellar for my kids to play games, LEGO, and puzzles. The cellar walls help lower the number of items that fall to the floor and keep the activity contained. It’s not an uncommon sight to see half of the table occupied with a game and the other half with the toppers on while kids are coloring or working on schoolwork. 

However, if your family does not play games very often, a game table likely will not change that and it will be overkill for the amount of time you’d spend using it as a game table. Something more like a game mat may be a better choice which will definitely add to your overall experience playing games without being such a large investment.

Final Thoughts

We’ve been using this table for over a month now and the Sunnygeeks has surprised us in all the right ways. It blends beautifully into our home, stands up to daily family life, and offers more flexibility than we ever expected. We were skeptical at first, but the modular system quickly won us over. Being able to tailor the table to whatever game or activity we’re enjoying that day has been a treat. It’s actually shown me that if I had tried to design a permanent set up for all these elements, I would have gotten it all wrong — thankfully, with the Sunnygeeks, I can just move the drawers and toppers around as life requires.

Would we recommend the Sunnygeeks Game Table? 

Absolutely. The Sunnygeeks game table has incredible versatility and works well as both your gaming table and a functional everyday table. It’s a great fit for family game nights, LEGO builds, puzzles, holiday hosting, and everything in between. 

If you’re serious about game nights and want a table that can grow and change as your family and hobbies need it to — looking great the whole time — the Sunnygeeks is hard to beat. 

You can see all of the options in the Sunnygeeks Game Table campaign on Gamefound.

What is Gamefound? It’s a crowdfunding platform where the Sunnygeeks is currently available to order. Ordering during the campaign will give you the lowest price the table will ever be before it hits retail at it’s full price. When you back the table, you’ll select all the finishings and elements you’d like your table to have, then Rathskellers will build it in their workshop.

A special thank you to Rathskellers for trusting our family to put the table through its paces and share our thoughts with you.

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