The finalists of the international award dedicated to tabletop role-playing games
Play – the Games Festival 2026 will host the final ceremony of RPG Magnifico 2026, the international award dedicated to tabletop role-playing games, created by Ludo Labo.
Inspired by the Goblin Magnifico award while carving out its own distinct goals and identity, RPG Magnifico aims to celebrate quality role-playing games and champion a broader, contemporary vision of the medium. The award aspires to become an international point of reference for everyone who creates, publishes, and plays tabletop RPGs.
RPG Magnifico's mission is to identify, recognise, and promote the most significant works in the international RPG landscape — while helping audiences discover the languages, forms, and possibilities of tabletop role-playing games.
The selection is entrusted to a jury of industry professionals who, throughout the year, analyse, playtest, and evaluate new releases from the international market, regardless of country of origin or distribution format.
Games are assessed according to criteria defined in the award regulations, including design consistency, aesthetics, accessibility, originality, and mechanical solidity.
For the 2026 edition, the initial selection surveyed tabletop RPGs released on the international retail market — physical and digital — between November 2024 and December 2025. From this first pass, the jury identified 28 titles of particular merit.
Each game was then brought to the table and tested — individually or in groups — by jury members, through an extended process of play and deliberation that produced the final shortlist of five titles.
The shortlisted games then took centre stage at MagnifiCon, the award's final phase: a dedicated play gathering where the jury selected the winner and drafted the official award citations.
The winner of RPG Magnifico 2026 will be announced at Play 2026.
RPG Magnifico 2026 Finalists
Daggerheart
Lead Designer: Spenser Starke
Publisher: Darrington Press
A flexible and immediately accessible system that strikes an excellent balance between narrative and mechanics. The Hope/Fear dynamic creates an engaging, ever-shifting rhythm at the table — and makes Daggerheart a superb entry point for new players. Production values are outstanding, with a core box that includes everything you need to start playing.
Draw Steel
Lead Designer: James Introcaso
Publisher: MCDM Productions
A tactical, heroic fantasy game that knows exactly what it is. It embraces the d20 tradition while deliberately tackling many of its structural shortcomings through bold, carefully considered design decisions. The rules are solid, complete, and unambiguous — delivering an experience that fully lives up to its audience's expectations.
Legend in the Mist
Created by: Amit Moshe
Publisher: Son of Oak Game Studio
A "rustic fantasy" RPG with a strong aesthetic and narrative voice. It makes an immediate impression with its visual style and what may be the finest introductory comic ever included in a roleplaying game. At the table, its intimate, community-driven scale offers a genuinely fresh perspective within the contemporary fantasy landscape.
Mythic Bastionland
Game and Layout: Chris McDowall
Publisher: Bastionland Press
A work of extraordinary evocative power and absolute design coherence. Its minimalist OSR mechanics are deployed with precision to support a visionary reimagining of Arthurian myth. The art direction is inseparable from the game's identity — producing a book that is as visually stunning as it is conceptually rigorous.
Wilderfeast
Author & Writer: KC Shi
Publisher: Horrible Guild
An original and bold project that brings rarely explored themes into the RPG space. Its mechanics are tightly interwoven with the experience it offers: hunting, cooking, and surviving become the beating heart of the system. A warm, distinctive aesthetic ties everything together, making Wilderfeast instantly recognisable and remarkably coherent in every element.
