diff --git a/CONVENTIONS.md b/CONVENTIONS.md
index 6d516db..2505052 100644
--- a/CONVENTIONS.md
+++ b/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -99,7 +99,11 @@ README.
 - **Table options** are the host's choices when opening a table (a
   variant, a side, a length): the game declares them in `GameSpec.options`,
   the hall renders them as selects, the room line records them, and
-  `create` receives them. A game with one way to play declares none.
+  `create` receives them. A game with one way to play declares none. An
+  option that changes how many can sit (a smaller map) says so through
+  `GameSpec.seatsFor`. The server, the tally and the ledger replay all read
+  a room line through `cleanOptions` and size a table with `tableSize`,
+  both in `spec.ts`, so each creates the same game from the same ledger.
 
 ## The engine
 
diff --git a/template/deploy/replay-ledgers.ts b/template/deploy/replay-ledgers.ts
index 5624fa7..9a54795 100644
--- a/template/deploy/replay-ledgers.ts
+++ b/template/deploy/replay-ledgers.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { game } from '../src/lib/game';
-import type { SeatId } from '../src/lib/game/spec';
+import { cleanOptions, type SeatId } from '../src/lib/game/spec';
 
 interface Seat {
 	id: SeatId;
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
 		const seats: Seat[] = [];
 		let state: ReturnType<typeof game.create> | null = null;
 		let turns = 0;
-		// The host's table options ride the room line; a game created without them is a different game.
-		const options = (lines[0]?.t === 'room' ? lines[0].options : undefined) as Record<string, string> | undefined;
+		// The host's table options ride the room line, read exactly as the server reads them.
+		const options = cleanOptions(game, lines[0]?.t === 'room' ? lines[0].options : undefined);
 		try {
 			for (const line of lines) {
 				if (line.t === 'seat') seats.push(line);
diff --git a/template/server/src/rooms.ts b/template/server/src/rooms.ts
index 5d3604c..aa9d719 100644
--- a/template/server/src/rooms.ts
+++ b/template/server/src/rooms.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // game beyond the GameSpec it is given.
 
 import { createHash, randomBytes, timingSafeEqual } from 'node:crypto';
-import { SPECTATOR, type GameSpec, type SeatId, type TableOptions } from '../../src/lib/game/spec';
+import { cleanOptions, SPECTATOR, tableSize, type GameSpec, type SeatId, type TableOptions } from '../../src/lib/game/spec';
 import type { ChatLine, RoomView } from '../../src/lib/net/view';
 import type { LedgerLine, Store } from './store';
 
@@ -182,21 +182,12 @@ export class Rooms<State, Input> {
 
 	create(name: string, size: number, rawOptions?: unknown): { room: Room<State>; seat: Seat; token: string } {
 		const { minSeats } = this.game;
-		if (!Number.isInteger(size) || size < minSeats || size > this.maxSeats) {
-			throw new RoomError(`A table seats ${minSeats} to ${this.maxSeats} players.`);
+		const options = cleanOptions(this.game, rawOptions);
+		const most = tableSize(this.game, options);
+		if (!Number.isInteger(size) || size < minSeats || size > most) {
+			throw new RoomError(`A table seats ${minSeats} to ${most} players.`);
 		}
-		return this.open(name, size, this.cleanOptions(rawOptions));
-	}
-
-	/** The host's choices, kept to the options the game declares and the choices it offers; the rest default. */
-	private cleanOptions(raw: unknown): TableOptions {
-		const given = (typeof raw === 'object' && raw !== null ? raw : {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
-		const options: TableOptions = {};
-		for (const o of this.game.options ?? []) {
-			const v = given[o.key];
-			options[o.key] = typeof v === 'string' && o.choices.some((c) => c.value === v) ? v : o.default;
-		}
-		return options;
+		return this.open(name, size, options);
 	}
 
 	/** A table with nobody seated yet. */
@@ -528,7 +519,7 @@ export class Rooms<State, Input> {
 	private replay(id: string, lines: LedgerLine[]): Room<State> | null {
 		const first = lines[0];
 		if (!first || first.t !== 'room') return null;
-		const room = this.blank(id, first.seats, first.createdAt, first.rematchOf ?? null, first.expected ?? [], this.cleanOptions(first.options), lines.length);
+		const room = this.blank(id, first.seats, first.createdAt, first.rematchOf ?? null, first.expected ?? [], cleanOptions(this.game, first.options), lines.length);
 		for (const line of lines) {
 			this.apply(room, line);
 			if (line.t === 'turn' || line.t === 'input') room.updatedAt = line.at;
diff --git a/template/server/src/tally.ts b/template/server/src/tally.ts
index f356db5..c8a23d4 100644
--- a/template/server/src/tally.ts
+++ b/template/server/src/tally.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 // costs nothing and a busy hall costs one scan a minute. The counts are
 // the kit's; a game may add its own lines through GameSpec.tally.
 
-import type { GameSpec, SeatId } from '../../src/lib/game/spec';
+import { cleanOptions, type GameSpec, type SeatId } from '../../src/lib/game/spec';
 import type { Tally } from '../../src/lib/net/view';
 import type { LedgerLine, Store } from './store';
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ export class Tallies<State, Input> {
 					if (hasBot) t.gamesWithBot += 1;
 					if (lines[0].createdAt < firstStart) firstStart = lines[0].createdAt;
 					try {
-						state = this.game.create(Object.fromEntries(seats.map((s) => [s.id, s.name])), line.seed, line.rules, lines[0].options);
+						state = this.game.create(Object.fromEntries(seats.map((s) => [s.id, s.name])), line.seed, line.rules, cleanOptions(this.game, lines[0].options));
 					} catch {
 						state = null;
 					}
diff --git a/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte b/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
index 5ccf828..8ac901a 100644
--- a/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
+++ b/template/src/lib/components/Hall.svelte
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 	import type { Report, RoomView, Tally } from '$lib/net/view';
 	import type { State } from '$lib/game';
 	import { game } from '$lib/game';
+	import { tableSize } from '$lib/game/spec';
 
 	let name = $state(playerName());
 	let code = $state('');
@@ -219,7 +220,7 @@
 		{/if}
 		<button type="button" class="commit primary" disabled={!ready || busy} onclick={() => open(() => Room.createWithBot(name.trim(), options))}>Play now against the bot</button>
 		<div class="ways">
-			<button type="button" class="quiet" disabled={!ready || busy} onclick={() => open(() => Room.create(name.trim(), game.seatIds.length, options))}>Open a table</button>
+			<button type="button" class="quiet" disabled={!ready || busy} onclick={() => open(() => Room.create(name.trim(), tableSize(game, options), options))}>Open a table</button>
 			<form class="joinform" onsubmit={join}>
 				<span class="or">or join one</span>
 				<input type="text" class="code" bind:value={code} maxlength="4" placeholder="CODE" autocapitalize="characters" autocomplete="off" aria-label="room code" />
diff --git a/template/src/lib/game/spec.test.ts b/template/src/lib/game/spec.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8956fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/src/lib/game/spec.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { cleanOptions, tableSize, type TableOption } from './spec';
+
+const options: TableOption[] = [
+	{ key: 'length', label: 'Length', choices: [{ value: 'short', label: 'Short' }, { value: 'long', label: 'Long' }], default: 'short' }
+];
+
+describe('table options', () => {
+	it('keeps only declared options and offered choices, the rest at their defaults', () => {
+		expect(cleanOptions({ options }, { length: 'long', colour: 'red' })).toEqual({ length: 'long' });
+		expect(cleanOptions({ options }, { length: 'endless' })).toEqual({ length: 'short' });
+		expect(cleanOptions({ options }, null)).toEqual({ length: 'short' });
+	});
+
+	it('seats as many as the options allow, never more than the seats there are', () => {
+		const seatIds = ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'];
+		expect(tableSize({ seatIds, options })).toBe(4);
+		const seatsFor = (o: Record<string, string>) => (o.length === 'short' ? 2 : 9);
+		expect(tableSize({ seatIds, options, seatsFor }, { length: 'short' })).toBe(2);
+		expect(tableSize({ seatIds, options, seatsFor }, { length: 'long' })).toBe(4);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/template/src/lib/game/spec.ts b/template/src/lib/game/spec.ts
index 98e0f8c..1e2e0c3 100644
--- a/template/src/lib/game/spec.ts
+++ b/template/src/lib/game/spec.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ export interface Preference {
 export interface GameSpec<State, Input> {
 	/** Seats in table order; the table takes at most this many. */
 	seatIds: SeatId[];
+	/** The most seats a table with these options takes, when an option makes it fewer than `seatIds`. */
+	seatsFor?(options: TableOptions): number;
 	/** What the host may choose when opening a table; empty for a game with one way to play. */
 	options?: TableOption[];
 	/** The game's own settings for the preferences panel. */
@@ -83,3 +85,24 @@ export interface GameSpec<State, Input> {
 	/** The game's own lines for the hall's tally, counted from a finished game: a label and how many it adds. */
 	tally?(state: State): Record<string, number>;
 }
+
+/**
+ * A table's options as the game will play them: only the options it
+ * declares, only the choices it offers, the rest at their defaults. The
+ * server, the tally and the ledger replay all read a room line through this,
+ * so each creates the same game from the same ledger.
+ */
+export function cleanOptions(game: Pick<GameSpec<unknown, unknown>, 'options'>, raw: unknown): TableOptions {
+	const given = (typeof raw === 'object' && raw !== null ? raw : {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
+	const options: TableOptions = {};
+	for (const o of game.options ?? []) {
+		const v = given[o.key];
+		options[o.key] = typeof v === 'string' && o.choices.some((c) => c.value === v) ? v : o.default;
+	}
+	return options;
+}
+
+/** The most seats a table with these options takes. */
+export function tableSize(game: Pick<GameSpec<unknown, unknown>, 'options' | 'seatIds' | 'seatsFor'>, raw?: unknown): number {
+	return Math.min(game.seatIds.length, game.seatsFor?.(cleanOptions(game, raw)) ?? game.seatIds.length);
+}