The American Tabletop Awards for 2026 have been announced! The awards are in four categories: Early Gamers, Casual Games, Strategy Games, and Complex Games. I’m on the panel of judges, along with several other folks in the tabletop industry, and although we don’t all get to play games with each other since we’re spread out all over the place, we do have a lot of conversations throughout the year about what we’ve been playing, and then we spend a couple of months working through nominations and voting (through some magical process that I’m glad I’m not in charge of!).
Here are this year’s Winners, Recommended titles, and Nominated titles. I’ve included links to the ones that we’ve reviewed here on GeekDad.
Early Gamers: Magical Athlete
You may recognize this one—I gave it our GeekDad Approved seal when I reviewed it back in November, and it’s been a pretty big hit across the industry. It feels like discovering the magic of roll-and-move when you were a kid—you know, before you started getting cynical about random chance and landing on “move back two spaces.” The introduction of wacky, game-breaking powers for each racer is what elevates this one from ho-hum to humdinger.
The ATTA Recommended titles were Cascadia Junior and Duck and Cover. The ATTA Nominated titles were Splendor Kids and The Sandcastles of Burgundy.
Casual Games: Hot Streak
Here’s another one you’ve seen here on GeekDad, and this one is also one of our own Game of the Year finalists, so we’ll find out soon how it fares with our own judging panel! Four offbeat mascots race down the field, but who will win—or even whether any of them will make it across the finish line before being knocked down or running the wrong way—is anyone’s guess. Place your bet on total chaos and lots of laughter—Hot Streak has plenty of both.
The ATTA Recommended titles were FlipToons and A Place for All My Books. The ATTA Nominated titles were Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game and 7 Wonders Dice.
Strategy Games: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
The Lord of the Rings is an evergreen theme, this time by the master of cooperative games Matt Leacock. Even though the overarching story remains the same, the game will feel different depending on which characters you play and which objectives you need to fulfill. The ultimate goal, of course: destroy the One Ring before Frodo loses hope. (Cue Sam Gamgee’s inspiring speech here!)
The ATTA Recommended titles were Moon Colony Bloodbath and Knitting Circle. The ATTA Nominated titles were Critter Kitchen and Kinfire Council.
Complex Games: Molly House
Molly House is inspired by the history of the queer community in 1720s London; the mollies tried to find joy and hold festivities even as the Society for the Reformation of Manners worked to stamp out “deviant” behaviors. You may be tempted to turn informant for the Society in order to save yourself … but that could also backfire. Molly House takes a weighty subject and makes a game that is both informative and engaging.
The ATTA Recommended titles were Galactic Cruise and Above and Below: Haunted. The ATTA Nominated titles were Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders and Covenant.
For more about the American Tabletop Awards, visit the official website.
