The San Diego Historical Games Convention (SDHist) is proud to announce the four finalists for the fifth annual Summit Award. The Summit Award aims to recognize a historical board game published in the preceding year that most broadened the hobby through the ease of teaching and/or play, uniqueness of topic, or novel approach.
The four finalists for the 2026 Summit Award (for games published in 2025) are (in alphabetical order, with links to and information from their BoardGameGeek pages):
Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars: This design from Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini is a 60-120 minute game for one to two players. It thrusts players into the roles of Napoleonic-era generals, presenting quick-playing but detailed versions of some of the period’s key battles (with four different battlefield maps of different sizes provided).
Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars is published by Ingenioso Hidalgo. The designers have utilized classic art from famed illustrator “Job” (Jacques Onfroy de Brévilleille, 1858-1931) and pioneer of the study of uniform Richard Knötel (1858-1931), plus counters and die icons from Fabio Maiorana and maps and editing from Mori. Judges praised its accessibility and approachability.
Chicago ‘68: A one-to-four player 60-180 minute game designed by Yoni Goldstein, Chicago ‘68 pits revolutionary spectacle against civil order around the events of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The design pits the Establishment against the Demonstrators (but with two groups with different powers and roles on each side: the mayor’s office and the Chicago Police Department on the Establishment side, and the Yippies and National Mobilization Committee To End The War In Vietnam on the Demonstrators side).
Chicago ‘68 is published by the Dietz Foundation. Beyond Goldstein’s design work, it features art from John Biggs and development work from Ronen Goldstein and Joe Dewhurst. It was the most-selected game during our public nomination process this summer, with nominators praising the historical detail it provides on an undercovered topic, as well as its ease of teaching and play.
Molly House: This 2025 publication is a thorough revision and expansion of Jo Kelly’s 2021 Zenobia Award finalist design. It credits Kelly for the original concept and design, and Cole Wehrle for additional design. In it one to five players take the roles of the gender-defying mollies of early eighteenth century London, drafting hands of “vice” cards representing behavior frowned upon by the Society for the Reformation of Manners. Those cards can help them host festivities together with their fellow mollies to create joy, but they can also lead to issues with the society’s enforcers, and perhaps even to a tough decision to turn informer.
Molly House is published by Wehrlegig Games. In addition to the design work from Kelly and Wehrle, it features development work from Kelly, Wehrle, and Drew Wehrle, research and historical notes from Kelly, solo-mode design by Richard Wilkins and art from Rachel Ford. Summit Award judges praised its original topic and its novel approach.
Onoda: This design from Francisco “Pako” Gradaille looks at the experiences of soldier Hiroo Onoda during his stay on Lubang Island. Onoda engaged in guerrilla warfare there from 1944 until 1974. It is a 25-minute solo game that seeks to immerse players in the ethical and practical dilemmas that Onoda faced.
Onoda is published by Salt & Pepper Games. Beyond the design work from Gradaille, it features illustrations from Javi de Castro and graphic design from João Duarte-Silva. Judges praised its uniqueness of topic and the way it lets players wrestle with Onoda’s story and decisions.
Honorable mentions: In addition to the four selected games, SDHist would also like to recognize two honorable mentions for the 2026 Summit Award. They are (in alphabetical order) The Bell of Treason: 1938 Munich Crisis in Czechoslovakia and Winter Rabbit.
The Bell of Treason: 1938 Munich Crisis in Czechoslovakia, designed by Petr Mojžíš, is a one-to-two player card-driven game covering the response by factions within Czechoslovakia to Hitler’s territorial demands against the country. Building on the crisis modeling system from Fort Sumter and 2022 Summit Award winner Red Flag Over Paris, Mojžíš casts one player as the ideal of trying to Defend the country at any cost, while the other player (or bot) takes the historically-victorious role of Concede, agreeing to concede the Sudetenland in the hopes Hitler’s demands would stop there.
The Bell of Treason is published by GMT Games. In addition to Mojžíš’ design, it features art from Tomasz Niedzinski and development from Joe Dewhurst. Judges praised its approachability and unique topic.
Winter Rabbit, designed by William Thompson, is set in the world of traditional Cherokee animal stories. It attempts to create a counterpoint to common colonial game themes by focusing on Indigenous values and concepts. Winter Rabbit takes a semi-cooperative approach, with all players trying to make sure their village has enough resources for winter and thus avoiding a loss, but with the player who did the most to help the village winning individually if the village survives. It also features trickster Rabbit villagers, who divert resources to a separate rabbit burrow.
Winter Rabbit is published by Absurdist Productions. Beyond the design from Thompson, it features art from Kindra Swafford, graphic design from Jonni Ketcher, and development from David M. Thomas. It was selected as the second-place winner of the 2021 Zenobia Award, and was picked as the winner in the light strategy category in this year’s Origins Awards. Judges praised its unique theme and novel approach.
Following public nominations this summer which selected Chicago ‘68, the SDHist board and board of advisors met to determine this year’s other nominees and honorable mentions, with public input also considered there. Those boards will meet again to determine the 2026 Summit Award winner, which will be announced at the SDHist Summit convention in San Diego this November, alongside the winner of the Bobby Nunes Memorial Award for gaming media. The nominees for the 2026 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award will be announced in the coming weeks.
The inaugural Summit Award winner in 2022 was Red Flag Over Paris. In 2023, the winner was Votes For Women. In 2024, the winner was Land and Freedom. Last year, War Story: Occupied France was chosen as the winner.
About The Summit Award: The Summit Award is an opportunity for the SDHist team to recognize the positive impact of a game that broadens the historical gaming hobby by drawing in more players or by introducing a new and unique subject or perspective. Our ultimate hope is that the Summit Award helps foster a discussion amongst players, designers and publishers about new ways to broaden the hobby through teaching, play, topic, and approach. Games are judged on five criteria: Ease of Teaching, Ease of Play, Novelty/Uniqueness of Topic, Novelty of Approach, Effectiveness as a historical game. More details on the award and eligibility guidelines can be found here.
About SDHist: The mission of SDHist is to create a diverse and supportive gaming community dedicated to playing, discussing, designing, and promoting historically-based board games. Through this commitment, SDHist seeks to serve both the existing historical board gaming community as well as grow it through the addition of new voices and perspectives. This is done through physical conventions, online conventions, the Conflicts of Interest Online web magazine, the Summit Award, and more.
SDHist is run by a volunteer board, and also has an advisory board composed of prominent members of the gaming industry. For more info on the Summit Award, please contact SDHist board member Andrew Bucholtz at andrew@andrewbucholtz.com.