The Diana Jones Award committee is pleased to announce the 2026 award goes to Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul, MN.
Mischief Toy Store made headlines in 2020 for requiring masking and then distributing free Black Lives Matter lawn signs during the George Floyd riots in the Twin Cities. They got nationwide attention again in 2025 for joining a lawsuit against US tariffs. Then, just hours after criticizing ICE in that national TV interview, they were targeted with a surprise audit but resisted turning over their employee records to DHS. They started printing ICE OUT posters to distribute as fast as they could, and organized a network of 3D printing hobbyists to distribute thousands of ICE alert whistles. Amid the chaos in Minnesota, they had to suspend online ordering, and their website directed folks to support local immigrant rights organizations instead. They’ve worked exceptionally hard to make space at the gaming table for everyone, in the midst of upheaval.
Find out more about Mischief Toy Store.
From a long and eclectic collection of nominees, the committee of the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming selected five finalists that it believes best exemplified “excellence” in the field of gaming for its 2026 award. They are:
MOLLY HOUSE
A board game by Jo Kelly with Cole Wehrle & Ricky Royal, from Wehrlegig Games
Molly House features sharp, topical game play in which players take the roles of the gender-defying mollies of early 18th-century London. Players draft hands of vice cards representing the different gestures, desires, and encounters frowned upon by the oppressive Society for the Reformation of Manners. These cards allow players to host festivities with the help of their fellow mollies, but they often have to pay bribes or wind up being forced to become secret informers to undermine their community instead.
Find out more about Molly House.
PRICE JOHNSON
A game company executive with Cephalofair Games
As the COO of Cephalofair Games, Price Johnson led the charge by tabletop games companies against the 2025 US tariffs that disrupted so much of the industry last year. He appeared in several national interviews and consistently and clearly explained how the tariffs posed an existential danger to many companies in the adventure gaming industry. Not long ago, he was promoted to took over as Cephalofair’s CEO.
Find out more about Price Johnson.
ROB WIELAND
A game designer and journalist
Longtime game designer and journalist Rob Wieland served as a relentless advocate and promoter for the entire tabletop gaming community for years. He served as a mentor to countless others, and he brought the industry to wider and greater awareness through his work with Forbes and other publications. In addition, he regularly hosted on-stage sessions of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen at conventions to raise money for charity. He passed away in 2025 at the age of 47.
TRENCH CRUSADE
A miniatures game by Mike Franchina, James Sherriff, and Tuomas Pirinen, from Factory Fortress
Trench Crusade is a grimdark skirmish miniatures game set in an alternate1914 in which humanity has been fighting the forces of Hell for over 800 years. Design-wise, it represents a triumph of community and creativity built around the initial sketches and lore created by artist Mike Franchina, who later teamed up with sculptor James Sherriff and game designer Tuomas Pirinen to design the game with the support of their legion of well-earned fans.
The 2026 Diana Jones Award ceremony was held in Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 29, at our annual gathering of tabletop games industry professionals, the unofficial kick-off of Gen Con, the world’s largest tabletop games convention.
Many thanks to the sponsors of this year’s event for their support. Our key ceremony sponsors are:
Our other sponsors are:
- Andrew Chesney
- Anthony Gallela
- Arc Dream
- Chip Theory Games
- Curtis Frye
- DriveThruRPG
- Dungeon Cocktail Experience
- Dungeon Scrawl
- Geoff Engelstein
- Jim Kitchen
- Lazy Wolf Studios
- Onyx Path Publishing
- Renegade Games
- Ross Thompson
- Shervryn Van Hoerl
- The Corner of Story and Game
- THE KRAKEN Gaming Retreat
- The Yellow Hand
- Wannabe Games.
- What Box Consulting Group
- Wide Pacific Horizon
We’d also like to thank our board members: Matt Forbeck, Michelle Nephew, and Camdon Wright, plus Aaron Trammell and Adrianna Burton, who coordinate the Emerging Designer Program with Camdon.