GM GUIDES · ARCHIVIST RESEARCH
How Often Do D&D Groups Play?
The median gap between Archivist sessions is 11.0 days. 35.6% of campaigns play weekly, and the rest are spread out from there.
Draft — not yet published · 5 min read
By Greg H. & Greg W., co-founders of Archivist
← Back to GM GuidesThe Short Version
- The median gap between sessions, measured per campaign, is 11.0 days, a little more often than every other week.
- 35.6% of campaigns play weekly. Only 10.0% play more often than that, and 23.1% go a month or longer between sessions.
- Sunday is the most common day to play, at 19.1% of dated sessions. Monday is the quietest.
The Average Gap Between Sessions
Across Archivist’s active campaigns, the median gap between one session and the next is 11.0 days. Each campaign gets its own typical gap first, so one very active or very slow campaign can’t pull the number toward itself. The Data Behind D&D calls this same 11.0-day figure the “average gap.”
How Cadence Breaks Down
A single median hides the spread. Sorting each campaign into a bucket by its own gap shows most groups meeting every week or two, with tails on both ends.
SESSIONS BY CADENCE
Bucketed by each campaign's own median gap between sessions. Gaps over 400 days are excluded as a restart.
Weekly matches the weekly-cadence figure above, the same 5-9 day band. The two slowest bars split the old 23% "monthly or less" bucket (cut taken September 29, 2026) and are rounded to whole percents. Active campaigns with two or more logged sessions.
Only one campaign in ten plays more than once a week. At the other end, close to a quarter of campaigns go a month or longer between sessions, and they’re still active games. A monthly cadence is a common way to keep a campaign going.
How Slow Is “Less Than Monthly”?
Not very. Campaigns with a median gap of 20 to 29 days make up 13% of all campaigns, more than half of the slow end. Only about 10% have a median gap longer than 30 days, and about 3% go two months or more between sessions.
INSIDE LESS THAN MONTHLY
Each band is a share of all measured campaigns, so together they add up to the ~10% in the last bar above. Cut taken September 29, 2026.
Bands are by each campaign's own median gap between sessions. Gaps over 400 days are excluded as a restart.
Which Day Groups Play
Cadence is how often a group plays. Day of week is when. Archivist’s Discord-voice sessions show which days groups pick.
SESSIONS BY DAY OF WEEK
Discord voice sessions only, dated by when the session was recorded. Audio uploads are excluded, because the file date can still be the upload day until the GM corrects it.
Sunday (19.1%) and Saturday (16.7%) lead the week, and Monday is the quietest at 10.8%. Groups play every day, but each weekend day beats every weekday.
Methodology and Questions
How often does the average D&D group play?
The median gap between sessions across Archivist's active campaigns is 11.0 days, a bit more often than every other week. 35.6% of campaigns hold a true weekly cadence (a 5-to-9-day gap), and another 31.2% land around twice a month.
How is "cadence" measured here?
Each campaign gets its own median gap between logged sessions. That median goes into one of five buckets: more often than weekly, weekly, twice a month, about monthly, or less than monthly. Using each campaign's own median keeps a few very active campaigns from pulling the whole split toward their rhythm. Gaps over 400 days count as a restart and are excluded, the same rule the parent report uses.
Do many D&D groups play less than once a month?
Not many. About 10% of campaigns have a median gap longer than 30 days, and about 3% go two months or more between sessions. Another 13% play about monthly (a gap of 20 to 29 days). Most of the slow end is monthly play, with few long silences.
Why is Sunday the most common day to play?
Sunday accounts for 19.1% of dated Discord voice sessions, the most of any day. Saturday is next at 16.7%, and Monday is the quietest at 10.8%. The data doesn't say why. A weekend-heavy schedule fits groups playing around work and school.
Does Archivist share individual campaign or account data?
No. Every figure here is an anonymized aggregate, the same policy as every Archivist data report. No individual campaign or account is identified, and campaign counts are not published.
Can I cite these figures or request a breakdown?
Yes. Suggested citation: Archivist, "How Often Do D&D Groups Play?," 2026, myarchivist.ai. For a cut we haven't published, email contact@myarchivist.ai.
Questions, Commentary, and Citing This Data
Every figure on this page comes from the same database snapshot as The Data Behind D&D, taken August 19, 2026, except the split of the slowest cadence bucket, taken September 29, 2026 with the same method. If you are writing about the hobby and want a cut we have not published, ask us. We can usually run it.
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTARY
Email contact@myarchivist.ai with methodology questions, corrections, or a request for a specific breakdown. Journalists and researchers can pull logos, screenshots and background from the Archivist press kit.
CITING THESE FIGURES
Quote and republish anything here with attribution and a link back. Suggested citation: Archivist, “How Often Do D&D Groups Play?,” 2026, myarchivist.ai.
See Your Own Table’s Cadence
Record your sessions with Archivist and your campaign timeline fills itself in, so you can see your own gap between sessions instead of guessing at it.
Archivist data is anonymized and aggregated. Individual campaign data is never shared or attributed. External statistics are cited with source and methodology notes.