The Golden Arbutus

Games will be judged by a panel of industry experts, guided by predetermined criteria. The ultimate goal is to highlight the best unpublished board games and up-and-coming designers at TCTC 2026.

The 2026 Industry Judges are:

• Shannon Lentz – Lead Judge – TCTC founder; senior project manager at Panda Game Manufacturing
• Chris Matthew – designer of An Age Contrived
• Daryl Andrews – designer of Sagrada, Mistwind, Bosk, and more
• David Manga – founder and owner of Outset Media
• George Ruiter – manager at Outset Media
• Luis Francisco – owner of Grok Games; designer of Stonks, Quartz: The Dice Game, and more
• Mark Yuasa – co-host of The Omnigamers’ Club podcast
• Pam Walls – designer of Blob Party, Disney Chronicles of Light, and more; owner of Pam Walls Game Design
• Roberta Taylor – designer of Cafe Baras, Creature Comforts, and more
• Sen-Foong Lim – co-designer of Junk Art, Mind MGMT, and more; co-host of Ludology podcast

Industry Judges will be assisted in the preliminary round by Community Judges. These Community Judges are other TCTC attendees who do not necessarily work in the tabletop industry, but nonetheless have a keen interest in games and game development.

Judging will take place in two phases on Saturday, March 14.

Phase 1 – Preliminary Round

The preliminary round will take place between approximately 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Judging in this round will be done by both Industry Judges and Community Judges.

Each judge will be assigned a selection of Proto Alley tables to visit. Each visit will last approximately 10 minutes, during which time the designer can present their game and answer questions. The judge will then step away and evaluate what they have seen based on preset criteria.

Intermission

Judges will reconvene to discuss the games they saw and decide on the afternoon’s group of 5-7 finalists.

Phase 2 – Final Round

The final round will take place between approximately 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Judging in this round will be done only by Industry Judges.

Judges will visit each of the finalists and take a more in-depth look at their prototypes and presentations, using the same evaluation criteria as before.

At the end of the final round, judges will reconvene one last time to determine the overall winner.

Judges will issue a numerical score in each of the following areas, which will assist in determining finalists and the overall winner.

Innovation – 30%

Is there some kind of “wow” factor? Is there something different and compelling about this game?

Gameplay – 30%

Are decisions rewarding and outcomes balanced? Is there logic and consistency to the rules?

Engagement – 30%

Is the game fun? Does the pacing feel appropriate for the type of game? Would you want to play this again?

Presentation – 10%

Designer has a polished pitch and game rules are clear. Publication-quality artwork is NOT required, but the board should nonetheless make sense to look at and the current game state should be understandable at a glance.

The game must be featured at a Proto Alley booth at TCTC 2026.

The game cannot be signed to any publisher as of the start of the show on Friday, March 13. A self-published limited print run of up to 300 copies is permitted.

Each game must be presented by its designer or a member of the design team.

You must complete the application form. Proto Alley participants will receive the the link to the form via email from TCTC organizers.

TBD, but it involves a trophy and bragging rights!

Finalists:

• Rikast, by Prickly Cat Games
• Spellslingerz, by Jonathan Moxness
• Tricky Tides, by Steven Aramini, Naomi Ferrall, Andrew J. Smith

Finalists:

• Bullets and Teeth, by Kevin Roberson, Gavin Valentine, Chris Thaeler
• Dragon’s Dodge, by Jeff Fitzgerald, Maggie Stewart
• Galactic Coliseum, by Jeff Lai
• Get Off My Land!, by Gordon Oscar, Liam Smith, Stephanie Kwok
• Sundara, by Kory Stevens