Games for Change expands its tabletop track, awards 3 board games top honors

polygon.com:

Games for Change, a leading progressive voice in gaming, spent 2023 getting way into tabletop. Now it’s back for the summer convention circuit with the Games for Change Festival in New York City, held this year from June 27 to 28. It will also award the second annual Best Board or Tabletop Game for Impact Award. Polygon has an exclusive look at the exceptional finalists, plus details of an extraordinary panel to be hosted by yours truly.

“We made the decision last year to expand our programming and our awards category to include [...] analog games to the Festival for the first time,” said Games for Change president Susanna Pollack. “I feel like this is something that has been [inquired about] for years, and we felt that the momentum and enthusiasm had grown so much that we really would be remiss if we ignored the demand.”

The global tabletop games industry clearly got the message, as Pollack said submissions were up 71% compared to 2023. Three finalists, described below, were selected by a jury chosen by Games for Change. The program’s partner, Hasbro, will make the final selection.

“This program beautifully showcases the ability for designers to connect people through a shared love of games,” said Brian Baker, senior vice president and global play lead of board games at Hasbro. “The creativity demonstrated by the applicants was truly impressive. Crafting an engaging game is already a challenge, but the added dimension of tackling social issues inherent in this program makes the submissions even more inspiring.”

Here are the finalists, which will all be available to play during the Games for Change Festival:

Designed by Pandemic creator and Pandemic Legacy co-creator Matt Leacock with Matteo Menapace, Daybreak is a game about stopping global climate change. It’s currently available directly from the publisher, at local game stores, and on Amazon.

“We were really impressed by how deep the research was, and the partnerships that went into designing the game,” said