GAMA: The Tabletop Game Association and the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design unveiled the winners of the Origins Awards 2026 at Origins Game Fair.
The Origins Awards are given out for excellence in game design, and are intended to highlight the best in the tabletop games industry for that year’s cycle. Much like last year’s Origins Awards (see “2025 Origins Awards Winners“), the awards were relegated to only games. There were no individual award categories for media and artists as there had been in the past (see “2025 Origins Award Nominations“).
The list of winners, per category, are as follows:
- Gateway Game of the Year: Railroad Tiles by Horrible Guild.
- Party Game of the Year: Hot Streak by CMYK
- Light Strategy Game of the Year: Winter Rabbit by Absurdist Productions
- Heavy Strategy Game of the Year: Speakeasy by Eagle-Gryphon Games
- Roleplaying Game of The Year: Land Eem by Exalted Funeral
- Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year: Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising by Chaosium
- Miniatures Game of the Year: Blood Bowl Third Season Edition by Games Workshop
- Miniature of the Year: Warhammer: Age of Sigmar by Festus, The Leech Lord and Games Workshop
- Fixed Constructible Game of the Year: Riftbound: Proving Grounds by UVS Games & Riot Games
- Randomized Constructible Game of the Year: Gudnak: Expansion Bundle by Chaotic Great Games
The group of winners announced this year was very eclectic. The Fan Favorite award, an award traditionally given out at the Origins Awards to a popular product, was omitted this year alongside categories for TCGs, gaming accessories, and collectible games (segments of the games industry which represent a large dollar amount of sales within the overall games market).
No blind box/pack products won an Origins Award this year. Riftbound: Proving Grounds, which is actually is a TCG, did win the Fixed Constructible Game of the Year. However, as the title of the award indicates, Proving Grounds is a fixed, starter product, and not one of the game’s booster display products.
Source: ICV2
