The Pokémon TCG looks compact until you actually lay out the board. Each player needs an active spot, a bench of up to five Pokémon in a row, six prize cards, deck and discard piles, and working room for hand and stadium cards. The official playmat footprint is about 24 by 13.5 inches per player - and that is the tournament minimum, not the comfortable amount.

Face two full layouts toward each other with a stadium zone between them and you want a surface at least 48 inches long and 28 to 30 inches deep. Kitchen tables usually have the length but lose the depth to fruit bowls and the width to place settings.

Pokémon has a second constraint most TCGs do not: it is a family game. The player across from you is often eight years old, drinks are often open, and the cards in the binder pocket are sometimes worth more than the table itself. This is where the structural stuff earns its keep - a recessed field keeps sleeves and full-art cards below rail height, and rail cup holders mean the juice box never shares a surface with a Moonbreon.

Damage counters deserve a mention too. They scatter. A field with a rail contains the scatter; a dice tray zone on a fitted inlay eliminates it.

The Mojave Duel's 48 by 30 inch field is sized to hold two full Pokémon layouts with the stadium zone between them. The Pokémon-compatible inlay prints both players' zones exactly where the rulebook puts them - which, parents report, is also the fastest way to teach the game.