What is VirtualTabletop.io?

Updated

VirtualTabletop.io is a browser-based virtual tabletop for playing tabletop games online. You open a room, share its ID or URL, and each player joins from their own browser tab — no install or account is mentioned in the site's own interface. It supports both remote play (everyone on their own device) and hotseat play (several people sharing one device), and it includes a game library you can load from or add to.

How a room works

The landing screen shows "Loading room..." and asks you to enter an ID and have your friend enter the same one. That ID is the whole join mechanism: anyone who enters the same ID lands in the same room.

Inside a room, the toolbar exposes the main controls: Game Shelf, Active Game, Players, About, Edit Mode, Feedback, Sound, zoom, Fullscreen, and Hide Toolbar.

Players and connections

The site's own help text defines the rule clearly: every browser tab that has the room open is one connection of a player.

From the Players panel you can:

  • Edit the name and color of any player.
  • View the game as another player (the visibility button) — greyed out while that player is connected and playing.
  • Add a local player who shares this device.
  • Rename a player everywhere in the game.
  • Remove a player from the list — only shown while they are not connected, and it asks first if parts of the game still belong to them.

One useful consequence: if you keep the room open in more than one tab, adding a player switches the current tab to them, so each tab can act as its own player.

Remote play vs. hotseat

Remote play Hotseat
Devices One per player One shared device
How players join Send the room URL with the share button; they join as soon as they open it Add each person with the person_add row
Switching turns Each player uses their own tab Use the visibility button to switch the tab to whoever's turn it is
What changes Their tab appears as a connection; they pick their name and color Only the browser tab switches — the game itself stays untouched

Remote play is the default for people in different places. Hotseat is for a group around one screen: you add each person as a player, then hand the device over and switch the active view.

The game library

The Game Shelf holds your games. Your personal library starts empty, and you can fill it by:

  • Pinning public library games with the stars.
  • Using the Add game button.
  • Dragging VTT files in.

You can upload VTT or PCIO files downloaded from the web. The site points to compatible game files on a BoardGameGeek geeklist, the PlayingCardsIO subreddit, and a Notion page. Library games can be filtered by player count (1–20), duration (≤30 min, 30–60 min, >60 min), language, whether they were made with AI, and sorted by name, similar name, stars, popularity, last updated, or year.

To switch games, return to the main server.

Practical notes

  • Joining is ID-based, so agree on the ID first. If you and your friend enter different IDs, you end up in different rooms.
  • Sharing the URL is the fastest path for remote players — the share button in the player table sends the room link.
  • Cancelling an input closes it for everyone and all choices are lost, so avoid hitting Cancel while others are mid-decision.
  • A disconnected player can be removed, but the game may still reference them, which is why removal asks for confirmation first.