Tabletop Scholars

🎲 BGA Spring Conference
📅 April 17–19, 2026 w/ April 16 pre-conference
đź“Ť The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY

Connecting Play with Purpose

The Tabletop Scholars Conference brings together practitioners across education, mental health, healthcare, community engagement, corporate training, and creative fields to explore how commercially published tabletop games can transform learning, professional practice, and community engagement.

Over three days, professionals will come together to evaluate commercially available, nominated games to determine whether they qualify for BGA Accreditation due to their ability to be a valuable tabletop play experience in their profession. Based on their ratings, we will bestow our accreditation on that game and promote it for use in that field.

Apply today.

Registration Invites Go Out on January 1.

 

Nominate a Game
Apply to Attend

How does it work?

1

Professionals, publishers, designers, and gamers nominate games they feel offer benefits beyond entertainment and could serve practitioners.

2

The BGA committee will review game submissions, with an emphasis on accessibility, inclusivity, clarity of instructions, adaptability across diverse settings.

3

Tabletop Scholars will assess the selected games’ usability with different groups, their ability to foster learning or growth, and their overall design quality.

4

Feedback will be provided to publishers, including detailed comments from professionals in the field in which the game was evaluated.

5

Games that excel in the review process receive Board Game Academics Accreditation, indicating they have achieved distinction in practice.

During the conference, Tabletop Scholars will evaluate board games, card games, and other non-digital tabletop games to determine their practical application in a range of professional fields.

Submissions should reflect a commitment to inclusive design, ensuring that players of different abilities, backgrounds, and identities can participate meaningfully.

Nominate a Game

The Tabletop Scholars Conference welcomes submissions of commercially published tabletop games for evaluation for Board Game Academic Accreditation. Games must demonstrate a practical application beyond entertainment in at least one of our recognized fields: education, counseling, professional development, occupational therapy, or community engagement. Games can be reviewed to fit the needs of more than one area. 

Game Submission Screening

We accept only published, commercially available tabletop games (no prototypes, video games, or unpublished designs). 

Publishers (or nominators) may select multiple categories when submitting, and the publishers for all accepted entries must provide:

  • 6 physical copies of the game for evaluation.

     

  • A PDF copy of the rulebook in advance.

Winning titles will receive the digital Board Game Academics Accreditation, which publishers may freely use on game boxes, websites, social media, and marketing materials. One copy will remain in the BGA Game Library for future conferences and research, and the other copies will be distributed to the evaluators at the conference.

Games at the conference will be announced in January 2026.

View Categories
Nominate a Game

🏆 Who Are the Tabletop Scholars?

Tabletop Scholars are official members of the Board Game Academic community with advanced education and/or experience in their field of practice. They have experience utilizing games in their profession, but do not need to be members of the game industry. They have a passion and a keen insight for using tabletop games as a powerful opportunity for play to better their profession.

Each year, practitioners, educators, counselors, and other professionals gather to evaluate newly released tabletop games. Rather than focusing only on entertainment, our evaluators assess each game’s practical value in classrooms, therapy sessions, community programs, and other professional settings.

We’re excited to welcome:

  • K-12 teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, coaches, and after-school leaders
  • College and university faculty, staff, administrators, and student group leaders
  • Therapists, healthcare professionals, vocational counselors, and social workers
  • Business leaders, HR professionals, community advocates, and group leaders
  • Librarians, historians, curators, and other experts in their fields
Apply to Attend Tabletop Scholars

Evaluating the Future of Games in Practice

Participants commit to giving every assigned game a thoughtful and fair evaluation.

Awarding Excellence in Practice

Experts in a range of fields review games according to criteria that emphasize professional use:

  • Accessibility & Inclusivity
  • Relevance to Context / Educational / Professional Value
  • Engagement & Player Experience
  • Learning / Therapeutic / Social Engagement Outcomes
  • Ease of Implementation / Component Quality / Overall Value

Games that pass the review process receive Board Game Academics Accreditation, a mark of recognition that they meet rigorous standards for practical application in a professional practice. Accredited games are granted the right to display the Board Game Academics Accreditation emblem on packaging, websites, and promotional materials. 

đź—“ Conference Schedule

Pre-Conference Professional Development Day (Thursday, April 16)

  • 9 AM—10 AM: Registration
  • 10 AM—11 AM: Keynote: “The Power of Play in Professional Practice” (Theater)
  • 11 AM—2 PM: Explore The Strong National Museum of Play & Lunch
  • 2 PM—5 PM: Industry Track Workshops (Activity RM C&D, other spaces)
  • After Hours: Evening Social: Tabletop Open Play & Informal Meet-and-Greet (FLGS)

Day 1 – Foundations & Kickoff (Friday, April 17)

  • 9 AM–10 AM: Registration, Welcome & Orientation
  • 10 AM–11 AM: Opening Keynote – Connecting Play with Purpose: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Practical Value in Games
  • 11 AM–5 PM: GAME ON!
  • Evening: Social Gaming & Networking (FLGS)

    Day 2 – Deep Dive & Dialogue (Saturday, April 18)

    • 9 AM–10 AM: Morning Roundtables– Tales From The Tabletop: Challenges & Successes
    • 10 AM–8 PM: GAME ON! 
    • Evening: Museum Fun, Social Gaming & Networking (The Strong)

    Day 3 – Review & Evaluation (Sunday, April 19)

    • 9 AM–10 AM: Morning Roundtables– The Future of Play: Expanding the Role of Games in Professional Fields
    • 10 PM–4 PM: GAME ON!
    • 4 PM–5 PM: Closing Ceremony– Board Game Academics Accreditation
    • Evening: Social Gaming & Networking (FLGS)
    Nominate a Game
    Apply to Attend

    Venue

    We’re excited to be holding the 2026 Tabletop Scholars Conference at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY.

    Strong National Museum of Play

    Strong National Museum of Play
    1 Manhattan Square Dr, Rochester, NY 14607
    Time zone: America/New York (UTC -04:00)

    Driving Directions
    Web Site

    Download PDF to Learn More

    Hotel

    We have negotiated a reduced group rate with the Hampton Inn and Suites in Downtown Rochester, just a 5 minute walk from the museum.

    Hampton Inn & Suites Rochester Downtown

    We’re in the heart of Downtown Rochester, close to many shops and restaurants. The Strong National Museum of Play is a short walk away and the Blue Cross Arena is a five-minute drive. The Geva Theatre Center is a 10-minute walk and Genesee Brewery is two miles from us. Enjoy our indoor pool and relax with a drink at our bar. Free overnight parking, breakfast, WiFi, and local transportation.

    Conference Rate: Room block opens January 1
    Distance to Conference: 5 minute walk

    Room Block Opens January 1

    About Board Game Academics

    We are Board Game Academics, a group of tabletop gamers and academic professionals of various stripes. Our mission is to combine research and gaming in novel ways. This multi-disciplinary project takes the form of an academic journal and two annual conferences to better critically examine the role of gaming across society, education, and beyond, and to evaluate commercially available games for practical applications. We are mainly focused on the historical, cultural, and systemic exploration of games as they relate to themes of race, gender, nationality, (de)coloniality, ability, sexuality, and class. In bringing these areas closer together, we hope to encourage meaningful discourse between academics, researchers, and gamers. 

     Scholarship in this field is also relatively new and constantly developing, with ideas from our community of gamers and guiding discussions and research discourse. We encourage gamers and interested parties of all types to come along as we explore how people relate to and experience games together. 

    Join Us April 16-19

    Learn how to get involved below: 

    Volunteer to support the development of Tabletop Scholars.

    Evaluate submitted games as part of our inaugural cohort.

    Sponsor sessions, awards, or practitioner participation.

    Attend to network, learn, and play.

    Join BGA and Apply