The results of the 2026 International Gamers Awards (IGA) have just been announced. In the Multiplayer category, the winner is Railway Boom, designed by Hisashi Hayashi. In the Best 2-Player Experience category, Duel for Cardia was the winner; the designers are Faouzi Boughida and Mathieu Rivero. Finally, the winner in the Best Solo Experience category is Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, designed by Matt Leacock. Congratulations to the designers, as well as the publishers for these three games: Arclight Games, Hans im Gluck, and Z-Man Games.
Here are the winning games, as well as the other nominated games in each category, including those which placed highly in the elections. The vote count in the final showdown between the two top games in each category is shown in parentheses. Note that Vantage was a hard luck loser–it finished second in the 2-player category and tied for first in the solo category, only to lose in a tiebreaker.
MULTIPLAYER CATEGORY
1. Railway Boom (9-7)
2. LotR: Fate of the Fellowship
3. Luthier
Nom – Nippon: Zaibatsu
Nom – Recall
Nom – Sanctuary
Nom – Take Time
Nom – The Druids of Edora
Nom – World Order
2-PLAYER CATEGORY
1. Duel for Cardia (7-5)
2. Vantage
3. Tag Team
Nom – Moytura
Nom – Star Wars: Battle of Hoth
Nom – The White Castle Duel
SOLO CATEGORY
1. LotR: Fate of the Fellowship (6-6, won on tiebreaker)
2. Vantage
Nom – Ace of Spades
Nom – Hercules and the 12 Labors
I don’t get to play too many very recent or brand new games, although I enjoy them when I get a chance, so I have not played too many of these. I DID just get to play Railway Boom, with Larry no less! It was a really good game and I especially liked the way that everyone at the table took some different tact toward scoring and winning. That demonstrated to me that there are multiple paths to success. I’m looking forward to playing it again and tweaking my first game strategy for an improved result. Solid pick for an IGA award!