Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2025 at the Cradle

In a year when video games, streaming and social media rule, tabletop gaming offers an outlet sans screens. The Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo, which comes to the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Uniondale on April 5 and 6, has attracted and expanded over the years with its low-tech appeal.

“Tabletop games provide an opportunity to socialize with people in person. There’s a big difference between playing games online with others and being in the same room with them,” says event coordinator Courtney Tricarichi. The expo has been attracting attendees since 2022. “It makes for better game play when everyone is in the same connected environment.”

Here are some highlights to hit at the expo.

BOARD GAMES

Head to the second floor to delve into the board game section where various sessions are scheduled with popular modern titles like Blood on the Clocktower, Catan and Azul mixed with classics like Life, Clue and Battleship.

“When you sit at a table to play a board game, you have to think, communicate, problem solve and strategize in order to win,” says board game coordinator Dave VanderWerf, known as “Game Master Dave.” “But there’s also laughter, community and new friends are made. You all collectively experience something together.”

ROLE PLAYING GAMES

Engage in a collaborative storytelling experience with role playing games in Hangar 3 and 4, located on the first floor. Players come together to create their own story in games like Dungeon & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder.

“Role playing games are very collaborative whereas board games are more competitive,” says Tricarichi, who refers to the games as RPGs. “RPGs exist in your imagination. You play them strictly through communication and dice.”

CARD AND MINIATURE GAMES

In Hangar 2 on the first floor, a series of card games will be going on such as Magic the Gathering, Disney’s Lorcana, One Piece, Pokémon and Star Wars: Unlimited. Meanwhile in the café, visitors can engage in miniature games like BattleTech, Blood Bowl, Halo, One Page Rules, Star Wars: Legion and Warhammer 40,000. “Miniature games are based in battle where a lot of strategy is involved,” says Tricarichi. “You are controlling an army against another player’s army to win. There’s also a craft element because very often players hand paint their own pieces.”

LIVE EXPERIENCES

Put yourself in the game at a live experience in Hangar 3 and 4, located on the first floor, where there are three escape rooms (Escape from Expo Island, Packing Problems, Vampire’s Curse) and a dungeon where you must defeat monsters guarding a local crypt. “Beginners are welcome. Each room has its own game master to guide you,” says live experience coordinator Rich Parla. “This is not on the level of a haunted house.” There’s an extra charge ($10-$15) for these attractions.

VENDOR MARKET AND MORE

Shop at the marketplace in the atrium on the first floor where more than 70 vendors will be selling miniatures, game accessories, role playing garb, board games, fan art, role playing games, pins and more.

If you get hungry, food trucks like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Extreme Empanadas, Kong Bab, the Mighty Bean coffee truck, Wild Bill’s Olde Fashioned Soda and Yankee Doodle Dandy’s will be stationed outside.

In the theater, a variety of panels will be offered such as “The World of Greyhawk: Past, Present, and Future” lead by Joseph Bloch on April 5 at 1 p.m. and “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Running Horror RPGs But Were Afraid to Ask!” run by David O. Miller and Oscar Rios on April 5 at 3 p.m. along with a Cosplay Contest on April 6 at 3 p.m.