Wondering exactly how multiplayer works Tabletop Tavern? The highly anticipated PvP mode, confirmed for the upcoming 1.3 roadmap update, allows two players to draft customized armies and clash in real-time tactical skirmishes. While the indie roguelike RTS launched as a strictly single-player experience, solo developer TJ officially greenlit competitive multiplayer after the game smashed past 100,000 wishlists on Steam.
For players accustomed to the game's Slay the Spire-style campaign map, the shift to competitive play requires a complete recalibration. Multiplayer strips away the randomized node progression and meta-currency grinds, dropping players directly into pure, Total War-esque custom lobbies. You will not be relying on lucky drops or the Boblin campaign perk to save your run; victory in PvP comes down to raw drafting skill, formation management, and an intimate understanding of unit counters.
Here is the definitive breakdown of the upcoming competitive modes, the development roadmap, and the tactical meta you need to master before the lobbies open.
The 1.3 Roadmap: How Multiplayer Works Tabletop Tavern
When Tabletop Tavern launched on June 11, 2026, it delivered a brilliant, bite-sized tactical engine wrapped in a roguelike shell. But the community immediately demanded to know when they could point their spear walls at real human opponents.
Developer TJ laid out a concrete, three-phase roadmap to bridge the gap between the single-player launch and the final multiplayer release. Crucially, he committed to making every single post-launch update entirely free. There will be no paid DLC dividing the player base when the competitive scene launches.
The Post-Launch Update Schedule
| Update Version | Release Window | Key Features & Additions |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1: The Rift of Magic | Fall 2026 | Introduces Mage Units and Player Spell Casting. |
| 1.2: Banners of War | Winter 2027 | Adds the Olympian Phalanx and a community-voted faction. |
| 1.3: Multiplayer | TBA | Custom PvP lobbies, army drafting, and competitive matchmaking. |
The sequencing of these updates is deliberate. By introducing magic in 1.1 and expanding the faction roster in 1.2, the developer is ensuring the sandbox is mechanically complete before throwing players into the PvP meat grinder. Magic, in particular, is a required balancing tool. Without player spell casting, certain unit traits—like the Ethereal buff on Mistwraiths—would be completely broken in a competitive setting.
Match Setup: How Multiplayer Works Tabletop Tavern
The core of the Tabletop Tavern multiplayer experience revolves around the custom lobby system. In the single-player campaign, your army composition is at the mercy of RNG. You recruit diverse units organically, grab artifacts like the Sanguine Court potion post-battle, and pray for synergistic upgrades.
Multiplayer fundamentally changes this economy.
Instead of a roguelike progression curve, players will enter a drafting phase with a standardized pool of gold points. You will spend these points to purchase units, equip specific gear, and assign hero bonuses before the match begins. If you want to field a massive horde of low-tier Undead infantry, you can. If you prefer to sink 80% of your budget into a handful of elite Dracosaur Brood monsters, the system allows it.
Once the armies are drafted, players select from the game's diverse environmental maps—such as the River and Rain skirmish or the Fog skirmish—which heavily dictate line-of-sight and movement penalties. A heavy cavalry build that dominates on an open plain will get bogged down and slaughtered in a dense forest biome.
Faction Balance: How Multiplayer Works Tabletop Tavern
Competitive real-time strategy lives and dies on its balance patches. The transition to multiplayer means players can no longer rely on the AI's predictable behavior. Human opponents will ruthlessly exploit stat imbalances, meaning you need to understand the underlying mathematics of the game's recent patch history.
Take the Undead faction's Shadelords, for example. In earlier builds, they boasted an absurd 85 armor rating alongside their Ethereal trait. The developer wisely nerfed their armor down to 30, ensuring they are no longer unkillable tar pits.
Critical Unit Traits for PvP Drafting
If you want to survive the custom lobbies, you must memorize these three attributes:
- Thick Scales: Resists 25% of all incoming ranged damage. This trait was recently added to the Black Dragon, Blood Carnos, and Emerald Ancient. If your opponent drafts a Dracosaur Brood army, a pure archer backline will barely scratch them. You must draft high-armor-piercing melee units to counter.
- Ethereal: Negates 50% of physical damage. Found on Mistwraiths and Shadelords, this trait forces opponents to invest in the upcoming Mage units (arriving in the Fall 2026 update) to deal reliable magical damage.
- Outrider: Allows units to be deployed outside your standard starting zone. This is the ultimate flanking tool, designed specifically to punish greedy players who over-invest in static artillery.
Countering the Meta: Artillery and Ethereal Units
In any Total War-adjacent game, artillery spam is the first toxic meta that emerges. In Tabletop Tavern, units like the Triceratops-mounted Scorpios and the goblin fireball catapults possess massive range and devastating area-of-effect damage. If a human opponent boxes these units in with a disciplined spear wall, a frontal assault is suicide.
This is where the Outrider trait becomes mandatory in your draft. By fielding units like the Samurai-inspired Kunoichi infiltrators, you can deploy a stealthy strike force on the very edges of the map, bypassing the main infantry clash entirely. The moment the battle begins, these infiltrators can sprint out of the fog of war and slaughter the vulnerable catapults before they fire a second volley.
Similarly, dealing with high-stat frontline infantry requires economic efficiency. The Stegoplate Guard recently saw their melee attack buffed from 26 to 33, making them absolute blenders in sustained combat. Do not waste expensive cavalry charging into their front arc. Pin them with cheap, expendable fodder, and use your gold advantage elsewhere on the field to secure a flanking morale shock.
Will Tabletop Tavern Get a Co-Op Campaign?
While the confirmation of the 1.3 PvP update is a massive win for the competitive community, a vocal segment of the player base is still holding out for a cooperative mode. The Steam forums are flooded with requests for a 2-player co-op campaign, where friends could either share control of a single army or traverse the roguelike node map together with halved army sizes.
Unfortunately, developer TJ has been transparent about the technical hurdles. Responding directly to community feedback, he noted, "adding multiplayer as a solo dev is not an easy task."
The sheer complexity of syncing a randomized, branching roguelike campaign across two clients is exponentially harder than building a self-contained PvP skirmish arena. For now, the roadmap is strictly focused on delivering stable, balanced competitive lobbies. Co-op remains a long-term community hope, but it is not officially slated for the 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 update cycles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tabletop Tavern multiplayer free? Yes. Developer TJ has explicitly stated that all post-launch content updates—including the Fall 2026 Rift of Magic, the Winter 2027 Banners of War, and the eventual 1.3 multiplayer patch—will be entirely free. The game features no paid DLC.
Can you play Tabletop Tavern co-op? Currently, no. The confirmed multiplayer mode arriving in update 1.3 is strictly PvP custom battles. While players have heavily requested a co-op campaign with shared unit control, the solo developer has prioritized competitive skirmishes due to the technical complexity of syncing the roguelike campaign map.
How do you set up a multiplayer match in Tabletop Tavern? Once the 1.3 update drops, players will use a custom lobby system. You and your opponent will agree on a gold point limit, draft your customized armies from the available factions, equip items, and load into a standalone tactical map. The roguelike progression elements are disabled for competitive play.
Does Tabletop Tavern have crossplay? Tabletop Tavern is currently a PC-exclusive title available only on Steam. Because it is not available on consoles, crossplay is not applicable.
Sources
- Steam Community Hub: Tabletop Tavern Patch Notes v1.6.18 and v1.6.19.
- Steam Store Page: Tabletop Tavern Developer Roadmap and Announcements.
- Reddit r/totalwar: Tabletop Tavern Release and Developer Q&A.
- YouTube: "Tabletop Tavern Launch Day Stream" by Turin.