Board Game Arena has announced the winners of its 2026 Awards, voted on by the platform's community of millions of online board gamers.
Got a regular group? Create a private community, poll for the best date, vote on games, and let your friends RSVP in one place.
Set up your group for freeGalactic Cruise, a worker placement and engine-building game about sending guests on luxury space vacations, won Best Expert Game. Designed by T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, and Koltin Thompson and published by Kinson Key Games, it sits at 8.4 on BoardGameGeek with a complexity rating of 3.9 out of 5. The game supports one to four players and runs 90 to 150 minutes. Its Kickstarter funded in under four minutes, and the BGA implementation has introduced it to a much wider audience.
Toy Battle, designed by Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini and published by Repos Production, picked up two awards: Best Two-Player Game and the Special BGA Team Award. The tactical wargame about organising toy armies has been on a winning streak, having already taken home France's prestigious As d'Or earlier this year.
Run game nights? Backseat Gamer handles RSVPs, waitlists, date polling, and game voting so you can focus on playing.
Start organising for freeFlip 7 won Best Casual Game for its push-your-luck card-flipping, while The Guild of Merchant Explorers took Best Regular Game for its satisfying blend of exploration and network-building. Orapa Mine, a gemstone deduction game, won Best Brainteaser.
All five winners are playable on Board Game Arena right now, so you can try them before deciding whether to add them to your shelf.
Sources: Board Game Arena | BoardGameWire | BoardGameGeek
