The Burrow
Mar 24, 2025
If you’re not a tabletop gamer, you probably still know about the nerdy hobbies of tabletop roleplaying and wargaming. They’ve been having a bit of a renaissance lately and gaining greater mainstream exposure.
Repopularised by its incorporation into the hit Stranger Things series, the fantasy roleplaying classic Dungeons and Dragons got a major motion picture in 2023 – Honor Among Thieves. While it was considered a financial disappointment, it was well loved by critics and fans of the game it’s based on, and there are still hopes for a sequel.1
Jumping from fantasy to sci-fi, the popular wargame Warhammer 40,000 has gained more mainstream popularity, with the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – released in September 2024, selling over five million copies in two months.2 In March 2025, the game’s publisher Focus Entertainment announced that a sequel, Space Marine 3, had begun development.3
On top of that, Amazon Prime is working with the company behind Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop LLC to produce a tv series with Henry Cavill as an Executive Producer, with contracts signed last December, 2024.4
This is all very exciting for nerdy tabletop fans – but just how many superfans are there? To find out, the home and contents insurance comparison experts of Compare the Market surveyed over 3,000 adults across Australia and Canada and the USA in a nationally representative survey to get a better picture.
You may be wondering, “What’s insurance got to do with tabletop roleplaying and wargaming?” When you see the prices of some of these miniatures, you’ll understand.
From the start, it became clear that tabletop gaming wasn’t as equally popular in each country we surveyed. It was most popular in Canada, where 31.9% of respondents have played a role-playing game (RPG) or wargame in some way, followed by 29.3% of Americans – but only 15.7% of Australians surveyed play or have played a tabletop game.
The US had the highest proportion of active players (12.8%) followed by Canada (10.4%), and Australia (4.8%).
| Do you, or have you ever, played and collected a tabletop-roleplaying game or wargame? | USA | Canada | Australia |
| Yes, I collect and play tabletop RPGs and/or wargames | 12.8% | 10.4% | 4.8% |
| I used to collect and play these games but I don’t have a collection anymore | 11.2% | 13.6% | 7.2% |
| I play/used to play but always borrow/ed miniatures | 5.3% | 7.9% | 3.7% |
| No, I don’t collect or play tabletop RPGs or wargames | 70.7% | 68.1% | 84.3% |
Breaking down the data by age-group, it is clear that RPGs and wargames such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40,000, Pathfinder, and BattleTech are more popular among the young than the old.
In North America, it was most popular among Gen Z, at 60.0% for the US and 50.4% for Canada. In Australia, it was most popular among Millennials at 24.5%. Granted, Dungeons & Dragons was only created in 1974, and would take a little while to become the cultural phenomenon it is today. Same with BattleTech, originating in 1984, and Warhammer, which saw its first edition in 1983.
Note: the chart above combines the percentage of all responses except those who answered “no, I don’t collect or play tabletop RPGs or wargames” for each age group.
The part you’ve all been waiting for – what are the most popular tabletop RPGs and wargames? Our survey asked respondents to pick from a list of 40 options, covering a range of popular tabletop wargames and RPGs, to a few more niche ones (note: we couldn’t fit every single one into a single survey question).
Combining survey results across each country together, the top 10 games (including a few tied rankings) were:
Just missing out on top 10 placements were games such as Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, Infinity and Saga.
There were some interesting differences amongst the three countries. The table below showcases the top 10 RPGs and wargames in each specific country.
| Ranking | USA | Canada | Australia |
| 1 | Dungeons & Dragons | Dungeons & Dragons | Dungeons & Dragons |
| 2 | Kings of War/Star Wars X-Wing | Kings of War | Legions Imperialis |
| 3 | Fallout: Wasteland Warfare | Star Wars X-Wing | Kings of War/Warhammer 40,000 |
| 4 | BattleTech | Star Wars Shatterpoint | Star Wars X-Wing |
| 5 | Star Wars: Edge of the Empire/Star Wars Shatterpoint | Cyberpunk | BattleTech |
Warhammer 40,000 was in the top 10 for Australia and Canada, but in the US it was 11th (while accounting for tied results). The US and Australia had a lot of tied results, while results in Canada were much more distinct.
Now before you get up in arms saying, “no way that’s right!”, allow us to roll persuasion:
This is based off a nationally representative survey sample of people – essentially sourcing people at random, but ensuring we have an accurate number of people in each age demographic, with a fifty-fifty split between men and women.
This is not a survey of all gamers in each country and the games they play. It also includes answers from people who don’t collect or play anymore, and thus may include games that are no longer officially supported and have seen their communities dwindle in comparison to others.
The costs for tabletop games can quickly add up. Even ‘pen and paper’ roleplaying games can cost a serious chunk of change – typically based on how many rule books and source books you want to use. In our survey, most gamers had spent hundreds on tabletop gaming. The table below shows the breakdown of total costs across a gamer’s life.
The most common response in each country was spending $100 to $199 in their local currency. The next most common amount was $200-$499. Interestingly, Australians were almost twice as likely to spend more than AU$1,000 on the hobby, despite being roughly half as likely to play.
For those not in the know, they may be wondering, “how can you spend so much money on tabletop games?” It’s actually quite simple.
In tabletop RPGs, there’s the core rule book, followed by any number of expansion books and source books. If the group is using physical miniatures, then you might need a few of those, and a game board, and dice.
And then there’s tabletop wargaming, which is a whole other beast entirely. You need armies of dozens to hundreds of miniatures (depending on the scale of the game), and these minis are infamous for being incredibly expensive, depending on the brand. Plus, there is terrain and buildings to build your battlefield and the requisite dice typically used to play, which all add additional costs.
Then there are other associated costs; paints, brushes and glues (and an airbrush and air compressor if you’re feeling fancy).
Interestingly, while Australian and American male gamers were more likely to spend $200-$499 than female gamers (in their local currency), in Canada it was the other way around with female gamers more likely to spend CA$200-$499, while men were more likely to spend CA$100-$199.
Also, over half of North American gamers reported having their own dedicated gaming table or hobby room at home, but in Australia this dropped down to just 35.8%.
When a brand has a popular IP, you can bet there’ll be different kinds of merch and media, and other collectibles for fans to invest in. Being the target market for such stuff, we also asked whether people had any books, novels, shirts, mugs, movies and video games related to a tabletop-game.
Canadians were the most likely to have some form of tabletop-related merch at 72.7%, while Americans were less likely at 26.5%, and Australians the least at 12.3%. The most common type of merch in Australia and Canada were shirts, mugs, posters and homewares. In the USA, the most common was novels and comics.
| Related merchandise | USA | Canada | Australia |
| Novels or comics | 12.0% | 28.6% | 3.7% |
| Shirts, mugs, posters and home wares | 11.1% | 31.1% | 5.8% |
| Statuettes and figurines | 9.4% | 25.8% | 4.2% |
| Movies or video games | 8.6% | 18.9% | 3.7% |
| No, I don’t have any related merchandise | 73.5% | 27.3% | 87.7% |
Note: this question allowed respondents to select multiple ‘affirmative options’, meaning that percentages do not add up to 100%.
Tabletop RPGs and wargames are an incredible hobby that people can become quite deeply invested into, but is it covered by their contents insurance?
To find out, we ran some questions past our Executive General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor.
1. Does contents insurance cover miniatures, dice and accessories for tabletop gaming?
“Contents insurance can cover tabletop gamers for their associated collections against a range of specified events like fire or theft as ‘general contents’. There is a limit to how much you’re covered for that differs between policies and insurers. This can include dice, miniatures, rule books and other accessories,” Mr Taylor said.
2. Does it make a difference if they are unassembled, built but unpainted, or completely painted?
“It would only make a difference if painting the miniatures increases their value, such as someone who paints minis to sell like a commission painter – which means you have to disclose that you’re operating a business from your home. Typically, you would get a new replacement that would have to be assembled again, or a payout for the purpose of buying more.
“It’s important to keep receipts for how much you spend on your hobby. It may be prudent to digitise them so if something happens to the receipts too, you’ve got those records to hand.”
3. What if miniatures are damaged or out of production?
“If a piece is damaged it may devalue the collection. It’s important to note that usually insurance companies will have a general limit that would cover the whole collection, but it’s possible to have per item limits. Out of production miniatures may be deemed ‘collectors’ items’ rather than ‘general contents,’ and be subject to the rules and limits of those terms in the policy.”
4. What about consumable items like glue, paint, and little grass tufts?
“It doesn’t matter whether the item is consumable or not, it can be covered as unspecified general contents. Usually, paints and glues are covered as well.”
5. Are you covered for out-of-print rule books?
“If the insurer classifies out-of-print rule books and source books as a collector’s item, then they may be covered within specific limits according to the policy wording.”
6. What about 3D printers, printer filament, and printed miniatures or terrain?
“Yes, these can be covered under ‘general contents’ so long as they are not a part of a business venture. Hobbyists selling printed minis or printing minis as a service would require this to be classed as business activity.
“The miniatures you print may be replaced according to the cost of buying them already printed from somewhere else. This is known as the ‘cost of replacement’, and means that 3D printed miniatures could be covered for a much higher value than the resin or filament used to print them, so long as you can prove the value of buying these minis from elsewhere.”
7. Are you insured for scratch-built miniatures and terrain?
“You may be covered for DIY terrain pieces and scratch-built miniatures, but proving value could be quite complicated. You’ll likely just be covered for the cost of materials. Also, if you do this as a business, then you would need business activity cover rather than regular home and contents insurance.”
So there you have it, everything you could possibly want to know about contents insurance and wargaming. Just remember to read through the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) for full details of any policy before you buy.
Australian gamers (and non-gamers) looking to compare or switch policies can do so with Compare the Market. Who knows, you might save enough money to buy more minis!
Compare the Market Commissioned PureProfile to survey 1,012 Australian, 1,010 Canadian and 1,013 American adults in a demographically representative survey for each nation in January 2025.
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