The Best "The Golden Elephant Award🇺🇸" winners and nominees 2026

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game and a sequel to the 2007 game Brass. It immerses players in the world of industrial revolution entrepreneurs in Birmingham between 1770-1870.

Rococo immerses players in the lavish Rococo era during the reign of Louis XV, where they take on the role of managing a prestigious ball. The game blends elements of deck-building and resource management, requiring players to skilfully navigate the demands of dressmaking and event planning to gain the most prestige.

Root is an engaging board game of adventure and strategy designed for 2 to 4 players (expandable to 1 to 6 with the 'Riverfolk' expansion). Set in a vast wilderness, the game offers a unique experience where each player embodies a different faction with its own distinctive abilities and victory conditions. With beautifully designed multi-use cards, Root brings a rich asymmetrical gameplay to the table.

Players explore and develop space from 2025 to 2300 AD across three distinct eras. Each player controls an Earth-based company aiming for profit by advancing humanity's expansion into the solar system and beyond. The game features various missions, such as constructing spaceports, exploring Mars, and establishing colonies in the Tau Ceti star system.

Triumph & Tragedy is a geopolitical strategy game for 3 players (also playable with 2) set between 1936 and 1945, focusing on the competition for European domination among capitalism (the West), communism (the Soviet Union), and fascism (the Axis). Players manage military, diplomatic, economic, and technological elements, aiming to achieve economic hegemony, technological supremacy, or military victory.

Gaia Project is a strategy game that builds upon the success of its predecessor, Terra Mystica, offering a complex and immersive experience in a sci-fi setting. Players lead factions on a quest to expand and develop their presence across different types of planets.

Teotihuacan: City of Gods invites you to traverse time, immersing yourself in the splendor and twilight of the powerful pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica. Strategize, accumulate wealth, seek the favor of the gods, and embark on the monumental task of constructing the awe-inspiring Pyramid of the Sun.

During the crisis of the third century, the Roman Empire faced catastrophic internal and external turmoil. 2-4 players take on the role of Roman dynasties, vying for influence in the Senate, military, and among the populace to ensure their legacies endure. With gameplay that combines deck-building and light wargame mechanics, players must build armies, control valuable provinces, and navigate political rivalries while managing their hands and making strategic decisions.

Barrage is a strategic resource management board game set in the 1930s, during a time when the industrial revolution has pushed the use of fossil fuels to its limits. The game revolves around the theme of hydroelectric energy generation, where players compete to build and manage efficient hydroelectric dam systems.

La Granja is a strategic board game set in the picturesque countryside of Mallorca. Players manage and expand their small farms near the village of Esporles, striving to become the most successful estate, known as "La Granja."

Mombasa is a deep and strategic Euro-style board game set in 18th century Africa, revolving around economic expansion and investment in trading companies. Players work to spread their influence across the continent by investing in companies based in key African cities and engaging in various trade activities.

"Lemonade? They want lemonade? What is the world coming to? I want commercials for burgers on all channels, every 15 minutes. We are the Home of the Original Burger, not a hippie health haven. And place a billboard next to that new house on the corner. I want them craving beer every second they sit in their posh new garden." The new management trainee trembles in front of the CEO and tries to politely point out that... "How do you mean, we don't have enough staff? The HR director reports to you. Hire more people! Train them! But whatever you do, don't pay them any real wages. I did not go into business to become poor. And fire that discount manager, she is only costing me money. From now on, we'll sell gourmet burgers. Same crap, double the price. Get my marketing director in here!"

Lisboa is a complex strategy board game centered around the historical event of rebuilding Lisbon after the catastrophic earthquake of 1755. Players take on the roles of members of the nobility, collaborating with architects and influential figures to reconstruct and develop the city.

Millennium Blades is a unique board game that simulates the experience of playing and trading within a fictional collectible card game (CCG) universe. It's a blend of strategy, deck-building, and market manipulation, wrapped in a theme that parodies popular real-life CCGs like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Emphasizing strategic depth and decision-making, Bora Bora is an intriguing board game that immerses players in the rich and mysterious world of the iconic Pacific island. The game challenges players to explore islands, build settlements, gather resources, and seek the favor of the gods through a unique dice placement mechanism.

Cuba Libre immerses players into the tumultuous Cuban Revolution, offering a unique lens on asymmetric warfare through its strategic gameplay. This game, part of the COIN Series by GMT Games, challenges players to navigate the historical intricacies of 1950s Cuba, where political intrigue, economic strife, and social unrest run rampant. Here, players assume the roles of various factions—Castro's 26 July Movement, anti-communist groups, Batista's Government, and the Syndicate (Mafia)—each with distinct goals, strategies, and resources.

Yunnan is the homeland of the delicious Pu'er tea, transported to distant Tibet by tea dynasties for over 1,000 years. Players determine the fate of their tea dynasties by building a secure trade network to deliver tea to the most remote provinces, outperforming their opponents. Strategic social influence and a prestigious teahouse can help calm provincial inspectors, while bridges and trading posts along the Tea Horse Road offer tactical advantages.

The U.S. Civil War is a two-player strategic wargame that covers the entire conflict from 1861 to 1865 on a large 30" x 44" map of the southeastern United States. Players command military forces represented by generals and strength points, with game mechanics focusing on strategy, maneuvering, and leadership, while also considering details like ironclads and naval battles. The game includes shorter scenarios for the years 1861, 1862, and 1863.

Fire in the Lake marks the fourth volume in GMT Games' highly acclaimed COIN Series, offering players a profound and detailed simulation of the Vietnam War's complexities. This game stands out for its multifaceted approach to one of the most tumultuous periods of the 20th century, providing a richly immersive experience that combines military strategy, political maneuvering, and the intricacies of coalition warfare.

Pipeline is a strategy board game set in a world where the oil industry has been privatized, and players take on the role of companies seeking to capitalize on this new opportunity.

Kanban: Automotive Revolution is a deeply strategic Eurogame set in the fast-paced world of car manufacturing. Players take on the roles of ambitious managers in an automotive factory, striving to impress the board of directors to climb up the career ladder. The game masterfully integrates the theme of a lean, efficient assembly line with its mechanics, offering a rich and complex experience in managing production processes.

Panamax is a board game that delves into the intricate and competitive world of shipping companies operating through the Panama Canal, an engineering marvel that has significantly influenced global shipping and naval architecture. In this game, players take on the roles of shipping company managers based in the Colón Free Trade Zone, engaging in the logistical ballet of accepting contracts, loading cargo, and navigating ships through the canal to deliver goods across the globe.

The Han Dynasty, established in 206 BC, ruled much of central China for nearly four centuries. However, by the end of the second century, corruption and mismanagement led to its decline, culminating in the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 AD. Three Kingdoms Redux is a board game that places players in the roles of leaders from the Wei, Wu, and Shu states during this tumultuous time, focusing on strategy and state management to gain victory points and aim for the reunification of China. Players bid for action tokens to improve their state's development, recruit armies, and strengthen their position against others.

Keyper is a highly interactive game for two to four players, played over four seasonal rounds: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Players manage their own village boards and various colored key tokens that act as specialists in different activities, while also having the ability to cooperate with other players during turns to benefit both parties. The game features strategic decisions based on the seasonal availability of actions and resources, with the goal of scoring the most points through diverse strategies.

The Colonists, also known as Die Kolonisten, immerses players in the development of their own villages, with the aim of achieving full employment and ensuring the growth of their population. As mayors, players strategize to expand their villages to accommodate new farmers, craftsmen, and citizens, balancing the need for resource management, education, and housing expansion.

As a banker of the Renaissance, you will finance kings or republics, sponsor voyages of discovery, join secret cabals, or unleash jihads and inquisitions. Your decisions will influence whether Europe advances into a bright modern age or remains trapped in dark feudalism.

With Napoleon's fall, the British East India Company shifted its trade from the Cape of Good Hope to the markets of Hong Kong. India became the center of an extensive imperial network, connecting the Far East to European markets and giving the British virtual control over the vast wealth of the subcontinent. In this context, two to five players take on the roles of Afghan tribal leaders, maneuvering through "The Great Game" to influence the supremacy of the Russian, British, or Afghan Empires.

Players take on the role of oil barons in the booming 19th-century oil industry. They explore oil fields, bid for oil rights, and build drilling platforms, tankers, trains, and refineries. The goal is to deliver more barrels of oil to the continents than opponents while accumulating more shares and money over seven rounds of play.

Players manage up to four factories in late 18th-century England, aiming to possess the most valuable stock portfolio. To achieve this, they need to raise their stock value, hire workers, and potentially replace them with machines to increase production. Each action influences their strategy, whether maintaining output across all factories or focusing on fewer while enhancing their capabilities. After several rounds, the player with the highest value of stocks wins, emphasizing strategic market engagement and responses to opponents.

The 1920s set the stage for Small City, a newly established town that is already seeing prosperity in its center. Players take on the role of recently dismissed managers from the local CliniC, aiming to construct an efficient transit network amidst competition for key development areas. The game consists of six rounds split into two phases: acquiring development cards and building networks, all while managing stress levels to maximize happiness points from citizens.