GAMA unveils Origins Awards nominees, criticised for leaving out designers for third year in a row -

The Origins Awards, one of board gaming’s longest-running prizes voted on by industry professionals, has unveiled its latest slate of 120 nominees – and come under fire for failing to mention any of the games’ designers for the third year in a row.

The awards, which are organised by non-profit trade organisation GAMA, say they aim to reward “excellence in game design” across a string of categories including light, gateway and heavy games, solo and co-op titles and party games.

The Tabletop Game Designers Association, a professional organisation launched in 2024 to advocate for creators in North America, said it requested that year that GAMA begin including designer names in its Origins Award announcements – and reiterated the plea when designer names were left out again in 2025.

TTGDA posted to its BlueSky account last night after the 2026 nominees were unveiled: “Shame on GAMA for once again not including designers in their ‘Excellence in Game Design’ award announcement.

“Last year they promised that this would be corrected in 2026, but again designers are not given the recognition they deserve. The omission is no longer an oversight. It is a GAMA policy.”

GAMA’s communications director Eric Francis, who joined the organisation in May last year, has since responded to GAMA members on Facebook, calling the omission “unfortunate” and “unacceptable”.

Francis, who added that he is a member of TTGDA, said, “As press releases fall under my purview I accept the responsibility for it and I apologize. But it was not intentional nor is it policy.

“I believe in accountability and I believe in fixing problems. One of my tasks after GAMA Expo ends this week is revamping the processes for GAMA’s releases so this kind of thing stops happening, and I invite you to hold me to that.”

He added, “I’ve been with GAMA for less than a year and this is my first Expo. Each of the last two nights I’ve spent hours in a massive ballroom in Louisville, Kentucky, watching people play games, many of them new or unpublished, all of them created by passionate and talented people – a number of whom are GAMA members themselves.

“This organization supports creators, full stop. But as with any human endeavor it is fallible, as tonight’s release demonstrates. My job is to head off those shortcomings or, failing that, fix them so they don’t happen again. It’s your job to keep me apprised of how I’m doing. I look forward to that dynamic.”

The Origins awards, which were first presented in 1975, have been in heavy flux over the past few years, going from 10 categories in 2019 to 24 in 2024 – with the make-up of those categories significantly shaken up from year to year.

GAMA briefly introduced categories in 2024 which represented its membership having expanded beyond just retailers, publishers and wholesalers, including recognition for artists, writers and media.

But those segments were removed again in 2025, with categories cut including Best Media Production, Best Game Related Writing and Best 2D Artwork – although the miniatures segment was expanded from two categories to three, covering games, the miniatures themselves, and paint and accessories.

A total of 50 board games have again been nominated this year across five categories, with the full list of nominees presented at the end of this article.

Trading card games and collectible card games will compete in constructible and randomised categories – the latter of which awards booster boxes and displays – while RPGs are again represented across two categories, games and supplements.

Veteran board game designer Matt Leacock is nominated for two designs this year

Matt Leacock has picked up two nominations this year for his work on Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and Animal Rescue Team, the latter co-designed by Lisa Towell.

Tyler J Brown has also picked up two nominations for Hercules and the 12 Labors and 23 Knives, as has David Gordon for his work on Crafting the Cosmos, alongside frequent collaborator TAM, and Finspan, which was co-designed by Michael O’Connell.

Play to Z, the publishing house launched in 2023 by Z-Man Games founder Zev Shlasinger and a string of tabletop industry veterans, is up for three awards this year across 23 Knives, Animal Rescue Team and Dan Manfredini design Xenology.

Capstone Games and The Op also each have a trio of games nominated this year – with Capstone’s titles Rowdy Partners (designed by Jason Hager and Darren Reckner), Sanctuary (Mathias Wigge) and Tea Garden (Tomáš Holek) all contesting the Light Strategy Game category.

The Op three nominations are Jason Tremblay’s Tacta, Matt Fantastic’s How Many What?!, and Manny Vega’s Tea Witches, across the Gateway Game, Party Game and Heavy Strategy Game categories respectively.

This year’s winners are set to be announced at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, which is due to take place between June 17 and 21.

Cooperative/Solo Game
• Animal Rescue Team, designed by Matt Leacock and Lisa Towell – published by Play to Z
• Castle Raisers, Erwan Le Minous, Anthony Perone – Wonderful World of Board Games
• Corps of Discovery, Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim – Off the Page Games
• Hercules and the 12 Labors, Tyler J. Brown – Envy Born Games
• Here Lies, Jasper Beatrix, Jakob Maier, Bobby West – DVC Games
• Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons, Peter Lee – Ravensburger
• Kinfire Council, Kevin Wilson – Incredible Dream
• Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, Matt Leacock – Z-Man Games
• Unstoppable, John D. Clair – Renegade Game Studios
• Vantage, Jamey Stegmaier – Stonemaier Games

Gateway Game
• A Place for All My Books, Alex Cutler, Michael Mihealsick – Smirk & Dagger Games
• Above and Below: Haunted, Ryan Laukat – Red Raven Games
• Everdell Duo, James A. Wilson, Clarissa A. Wilson – Tycoon Games
• Flamecraft Duals, Manny Vega – Cardboard Alchemy
• Pergola, Michał Gołąb Gołębiowski, Przemek Wojtkowiak – Rebel Studio
• Point Galaxy, Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich – Flatout Games, AEG
• Railroad Tiles, Hjalmar Hach, Lorenzo Silva – Horrible Guild
• Tacta, Jason Tremblay – The Op
• Toy Battle, Paolo Mori, Alessandro Zucchini – Asmodee
• Wine Cellar, Andrew Stiles – 25th Century Games

Party Game
• 23 Knives, Tyler J. Brown – Play to Z
• Alibis, Albert Monteys – Allplay
• Brick Like This!, Luca Bellini – Asmodee
• Dice Words, Tim Phillips – Kosmos
• Hot Streak, Jon Perry – CMYK
• How Many What?!, Matt Fantastic – The Op
• Mystery Fluxx, Andrew Looney – Looney Labs
• Outfox the Fox, Jeff Grisenthwaite – Smirk & Dagger Games
• Person Do Thing, Uri Bram – Runaway Parade
• Red Letter Yellow Letter, Nathan Thornton – 25th Century Games

Heavy Strategy Game
• Crafting the Cosmos, David Gordon, TAM – Office Dog Games
• Cyclades: Legendary Edition, Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc – Studio H
• Galactic Cruise, T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, Koltin Thompson – Allplay
• Luthier, Dave Beck, Abe Burson – Paverson Games
• Molly House, Jo Kelly, Cole Wehrle – Wehrlegig Games
• Speakeasy, Vital Lacerda – Eagle-Gryphon Games
• Star Trek: Captain’s Chair, Nigel Buckle, Dávid Turczi – WizKids
• Tea Witches, Manny Vega – The Op
• The Anarchy, Bobby Hill – Renegade Game Studios
• Xenology, Dan Manfredini – Play to Z

Light Strategy Game
• 3 Witches, Corey Young – Allplay
• Diatoms, Sabrina Culyba – Ludoliminal
• Finspan, David Gordon, Michael O’Connell – Stonemaier Games
• Rowdy Partners, Jason Hager, Darren Reckner – Capstone Games
• Sanctuary, Mathias Wigge – Capstone Games
• Star Wars: Battle of Hoth, Richard Borg, Adrien Martinot – Days of Wonder
• Tag Team, Gricha German, Corentin Lebrat – Scorpion Masqué
• Tea Garden, Tomáš Holek – Capstone Games
• Timelancers, Juliana Chang, Kenny Heidt, Teresa Ho, Lee Ho – Party Tails
• Winter Rabbit, William Thompson – Absurdist Productions

Constructible Fixed Product
• CookieRun Braverse TCG: Starter Deck Assortment – Devsisters
• Magic: The Gathering Avatar the Last Airbender Commander’s Bundle – Wizards of the Coast
• Gwent: The Legendary Card Game, CD Projekt, Rafał Jaki, Damien Monnier – No Loading Games
• Rush of Ikorr Starter Deck, Bobby Coovert, Ryan Martin – Upper Deck
• Sorcery: Contested Realm Gothic Preconstructed Decks, Rafael Novellino, Erik Olofsson, Nickolas Reynolds – Erik’s Curiosa
• Riftbound Proving Grounds – Riot Games
• Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Commander Decks – Wizards of the Coast
• Gundam Card Game Starter – Heroic Beginnings – Bandai Namco
• Gudnak Core Set, Timothy S. O’Brien, Ian Oliver – Chaotic Great
• Compile: Main 2, Michael Yang – Synapses Games

Constructible Randomized Product
• Gundam Newtype Rising Booster Pack Display – Bandai Namco
• Rush of Ikorr, Bobby Coovert, Ryan Martin – Upper Deck
• Shard Bugs – Shard Bugs, LLC
• Sorcery: Contested Realm Gothic Booster Box, Rafael Novellino, Erik Olofsson, Nickolas Reynolds – Erik’s Curiosa
• Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Play Booster Box – Wizards of the Coast
• Riftbound Origins Booster Display – Riot Games
• Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Collector Booster Box – Wizards of the Coast
• Universus CCG: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Booster Display – UVS Games
• Gudnak Expansion Bundle, Timothy S. O’Brien, Ian Oliver – Chaotic Great
• Pokemon TCG Scarlet and Violet Destined Rivals Booster Box – The Pokemon Company

Miniature Game
• Blood Bowl: Third Season Edition – Games Workshop
• Cretaceous Rails, Ann Journey – Spielcraft Games
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Combat Zone, Justin Gibbs, John Kovaleski, Mack Martin, Erik Yaple – Monster Fight Club
• Grimcoven, Krzysztof Belczyk – Awaken Realms
• Konflikt 47 – Warlord Games
• Malediction, Leo Cunha, Nicole Lobo, Daniel Pettersen de Lucena – Loot Studios
• Malifaux Fourth Edition Two-Player Starter – Wyrd Games
• Warcrow – The Song of the Dormant, Alberto Abal, Jesús Fuster, Laura Castro Royo, Marcos Bello Soto – Corvus Belli
• Warhammer Quest: Darkwater – Games Workshop
• Warzone Eternal, Alex Kanous, Bryan Steele – Res Nova LLC, now published by Trans Atlantis Games