Tabletop gaming isn’t just about the game—it’s about the people you play with, the fun you share, and how smoothly everything comes together. Choosing the right platform to organise your events can mean the difference between a thriving gaming group that’s eager to play week after week and one that struggles to stay connected and engaged.

For years, Meetup has been the go-to space for organising all kinds of gatherings but it lacks the features to organise a basic game night well, let alone a full board gaming event, and has become stagnant and expensive.

Aftergame’s focus on the needs of tabletop gamers, combined with its specialised tools, community-driven approach, and affordability makes it an outstanding choice for anyone looking to organise their gaming groups, no matter how big or small.

Understanding the needs of tabletop gamers

We chatted with some community leaders to find out what challenges they had in planning their events.

	“I was using Meetup before and found it was great for helping advertise the event to people, but terrible for anyone who wanted to try to organise a game at any of my meetup events”, says Teena, who has been running Behold Games in Ultimo since 2018 and has been organising board game events since 2015, such as the Board Game Cruise Australia, a yearly week-long cruise full of relaxing and, of course, board gaming! Teena was one of the first group leaders to come onboard, joining before the recent Meetup price hikes.

	Chris Ingold had similar issues. “One of the challenges for all our events is connecting very different gamers to the right games and the groups to play them with. This is a good challenge to have, as it's because our events are always open to both brand new gamers and those looking for an epic, heavier game.” Chris is the president of Melbourne Meeples, who run regular gaming meets across the city, as well as two conventions (MeepleCon and OzBunnyCon) and the Melbourne Boardgame Market which combines Melbourne's biggest board game flea market with the chance to test, play and buy the latest works from local designers and creatives (hashtag supportlocal).

In speaking with Teena and Chris, we confirmed that planning a board game event has unique challenges that aren’t present for something like a knitting meetup or a running group, so Aftergame has built tools to support a sustainable and well-run game night that other platforms lack.

How is Aftergame different?

“ …an essential tool in board game event organising.”
- Teena

Plan events and games

Aftergame makes it super easy to host events, whether it’s a one-off gathering or a recurring game night. You can plan official games in advance that are hosted by your group, meaning players will know what they’ll be playing before the event even starts. (For larger events, the personal event schedule will come in handy to make sure players don’t double-book themselves.) Attendees who are excited to play a particular game can also create a table. This works especially well for larger games that are a harder sell. There are probably people who want to play them but polling everyone is so cumbersome.
With a planned game, anyone who is interested can claim their seat at the table with no middleman attempting to do the matchmaking. “Aftergame's ability for both organisers and gamers to invite others to sign up for a specific game within our events is fantastic,” says Chris.

The ability to set a required experience level for the table is another great tool that ensures the host won’t have to spend an hour teaching the game if they don’t want to. Teena likes “the ability to set an attendee limit, to allow attendees to coordinate and discuss games [with the chat feature embedded in groups, events, and planned games], and for people to see games where seats are still open and look up what the game might be.”

	The third person we spoke with is Matthew Stone, the creator and coordinator of R U OK 2 Play?, a national initiative promoting good mental health and combating social isolation through tabletop gaming, and the organiser of Ringwood Social Games in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. He added, “the ability for attendees to pre-plan specific games for events is a stand-out feature that other platforms don't have. Being able to include game libraries for venues, events and people is also a very handy feature.”

Build your community

Another benefit of Aftergame is that everyone is there for the tabletop games; every single person who sees your event on Aftergame is a potential new game friend. As communities grow in your area, it expands the reach of your group, too.
Unlike some other event-planning platforms, Aftergame has the social aspects built right in; players can see each others’ game collections, their aggregate stats, and which events they’ll be attending. Because of the shared game logs and play history, players will start seeing stats for their time together, creating deeper connections that invite players to keep coming back, maybe for another laugh or maybe for a rematch.

These features help retain players and maintain group engagement over time, something that feels like it’s missing from Meetup’s broader approach.

Why choose Aftergame?

“Meetup will soon be too expensive for community groups to use.”
- Chris

The value

We asked Teena, Matt, and Chris what made them decide to use Aftergame when they’d been using Meetup for years. Apart from the affordability and specialised tools, we wondered what the tipping point was.

For Matt, it was that “Aftergame is very easy to use and doesn't need constant updating and attention.” With Aftergame’s user-friendly interface and intuitive design, you can create a recurring event just as easily as a game night and even your most technologically-challenged members will soon be able to join an event or claim a seat in a game.

Chris is glad to have another channel to reach people. “Having an alternative to the main social channels for advertising events is great, as each of the others has at least a portion of our community that just won't touch it.”

Teena appreciates the responsive and engaged nature of the small but mighty team behind Aftergame. “The personal touch of the Aftergame team, reaching out to me and asking what my pain points were in Meetup, and their continued dedication to improving features make it an essential tool in board game event organising.”

The cost

Meetup charges exorbitant prices for a generic offering. The subscription plan for three or more groups, for example, seems wholly aimed at corporate entities. As Chris points out, “Meetup will soon be too expensive for community groups to use, and it’s clearly moving more towards corporate events.”

Aftergame offers specialised tabletop gaming features at a fraction of the cost.

Also, Aftergame is free for your group members to use, though there is a user subscription available if they want to support development.

It’s a bold claim, but here goes: Aftergame is more affordable than Meetup.

How’s it going so far?

We asked Teena, Matt, and Chris if there was anything they wanted to say about using Aftergame that they hadn’t had a chance to share yet.

Teena says, “I’ve been using Aftergame for a number of months now, and every week more features and enhancements come in, which is great to see!”

Matt wrapped up by saying, “it's still very early days yet, as Aftergame's user base gets larger I expect it's value will increase. There are still some features that need to be added that I know are coming.”

From Chris: “At Melbourne Meeples we're only really getting started with Aftergame, but we're really looking forward to where the app is going and to what it can bring to our events. Plus did we say we're really stoked that it's built in ANZ?”

The takeaways

• Aftergame understands the unique challenges of organising tabletop gamers week after week and actively builds tools to help your gaming events run smoothly.
• Aftergame has a growing user-base for you to offer your events to.
• Aftergame has community-building features that help your members stay engaged between events and entices them to keep coming back.
• Aftergame has a small, dedicated team ready to support you if you run into issues.
• Aftergame is easy to use.
• Aftergame charges a fair price.

You shouldn’t have to pay through the nose for an inferior product. Join Aftergame and see what groups all over ANZ have already learned: Organising board game and tabletop events can be easy and economical.

You can try Aftergame for your next event or check out what’s already happening in your area! Available now on Android and iOS.

Going further

If you need a bit of assistance getting started, Aftergame has a robust help site with a whole section specific to event organisers and you can always reach us for inquiries and support by emailing hello@aftergame.co.