Hot Streak

Casual games do have one major thing in common with Early Gamers, as a category: table presence. Don’t get us wrong; Strategy and Complex Games both have a claim to fame for table presence, and some of those Complex Games can take up a table. But when you’ve got folks walking by and asking about a game, it’s usually because there’s a weird moonwalking fish or a terrifyingly large baby, both of which appear in this year’s American Tabletop Award winners. It’s been a weird year; cut us some slack. In Hot Streak, players are likely-degenerate gamblers who have found their new money pit: those mascot races you likely remember from a weird inning interlude of a baseball game. You’re really into the races; they’re all you can talk about. As you bet, they race somewhat on their own, aided (or hindered) slightly by one card from each player secretly placed into the race deck.

Any game that aims for a weird energy should have equally-weird components, and from the box to the mascots, Hot Streak has gone all-in on that experience. It’s hard to look away as these wobbly mascots fall over, bump into each other, and get gently subsumed into the board itself. Compelling in a nature-documentary-sort-of-way. As you collect your gains, you’ll eventually find out at the game’s conclusion how the money has affected (or ruined) your life. The fun, the confusion, and the mild, lingering terror await in Hot Streak, and we’re excited to name it our 2026 Casual Games Winner!

What Our Committee Is Saying

---

Photos courtesy of Jonathan H. Liu. All rights reserved.

---