Gamers Engaged

Got $1? Turn it into impact with your friends 🎮💛

Pool small donations together and vote on a cause you care about. It’s a simple way to make giving more collaborative and fun.

Each person contributes a little, everyone gets a voice, and together you decide where the impact goes.

It feels like a co-op mission, but for real-world change.

Huge shoutout to the production and stream team who helped bring the 2026 Gauntlet to life!

Special thanks to the incredible interns from Nooksack Valley Productions at Nooksack Valley High School, part of Future Business Leaders of America and the Esports Team. Your talent, professionalism, and behind-the-scenes magic helped make the livestream a success.

We’re also so grateful to Kevin Harland, our Executive Producer, and Dee Malley and Joe Senese, our livestream commentators, for guiding the show, keeping the energy high, and helping our community experience every wild, wonderful moment of the Gauntlet.

It takes a true pack to pull off an Animalia-sized event, and this crew delivered. Thank you! 🐾🎮

We have so many people to thank for the success of the 2026 Gauntlet!

To every player, donor, volunteer, judge, sponsor, streamer, supporter, and spectator: thank you for joining the herd, flock, pack, swarm, pod, pride, and party!

We specifically want to thank our generous sponsors: Mox Boarding House, Card Kingdom, Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Bungie, Asmodee, Ravensburger, Rainbow Rabbits, Lantern Press and BoardGameGeekTV. Your support helped make this year’s tournament possible and fueled a day where play, philanthropy, and community came together beautifully.

We’re also sending a special thank you to Wizards of the Coast and Nostalgium for generously donating items to this year’s auction. Your contributions helped add even more excitement to the day and gave our community another fun, meaningful way to support Gamers Engaged. We are so grateful for your generosity and for helping make The Gauntlet 2026 a truly wild success.

Finally, an extra special thank you to Mox Boarding House for hosting the 2026 event.

The Gauntlet 2026 proved once again that when gamers come together, we can do more than play—we can create real, lasting impact.

On May 17, teams from across the games industry and tabletop community gathered for The Gauntlet 2026: Animalia, a full day of games, giving, friendly competition, and delightfully wild energy in support of Gamers Engaged and our Play-it-Forward Fund.

This year’s teams entered the arena ready to claw, crawl, leap, and strategize their way through the tournament, taking on tabletop game rounds, trivia, and a surprise finale designed to test teamwork, creativity, and nerves of steel. From the first roll to the final showdown, the day was packed with big laughs, clever plays, dramatic comebacks, and plenty of creature-feature chaos.

As of today, our incredible community raised $71,100 toward Gamers Engaged’s work to build a stronger culture of giving across the games industry and support programs like the Play-it-Forward Fund, workforce development, volunteer engagement, and other social impact initiatives.

We have extended the deadline to donate to Sunday, May 24th: https://givebutter.com/gauntlet26/fast-and-furry-ous

A huge congratulations to Fast and Furry-ous, our 2026 Gauntlet champions! We’re also sending a giant roar of appreciation to our top fundraising team, Bungie. Your generosity gave your teams some serious power-ups and helped make this year’s impact possible.

To every player, donor, volunteer, judge, sponsor, streamer, supporter, and spectator: thank you for joining the herd, flock, pack, swarm, pod, pride, and party! The Gauntlet 2026 proved once again that when gamers come together, we can do more than play—we can create real, lasting impact.

The zoo is officially open. 🐾🎲

Tune into the Animalia Gauntlet live stream and watch teams unleash their competitive spirit in a wild day of tabletop games and giving for a great cause.

From fierce strategy to chaotic teamwork, you won’t want to miss a moment.

We’re also thrilled to welcome back BoardGameGeek as our livestream sponsor for the second year in a row, thank you for helping bring the Gauntlet to viewers everywhere! 💛

Streaming live at gauntletofgames.org on 5/17 from 11 am–7 pm PT.

Play. Watch. Give. Go wild. 🦁

A huge Animalia-sized thank you to the amazing companies who helped fill this year’s Gauntlet swag bags with goodies for our players and judges! 🐾🎲

We’re so grateful to Paizo, Ravensburger, Wizards of the Coast, Lantern Press, Ultimate Guard and Rainbow Rabbits for helping make the 2026 Gauntlet experience even more fun, generous, and wildly memorable.

Thanks for helping us celebrate the power of play—and for giving our competitors a few extra treats to take home from the tournament! 🦊🐰🐉

We are beyond grateful to our donors for getting us this far and to our host, Mox Bellevue, for making the 2026 Gauntlet a success.

Thank you Mox Boarding House and Mox Bellevue for being such incredible partners in bringing the games community together for good.

Want to catch the action in person? Stop by Mox to watch the tournament, cheer on the teams, and join the fun!

And while you’re there, donate to Gamers Engaged and receive a “Thank You Coupon” and a Gamers Engaged lapel pin!

Come for the games. Stay for the community. Help us play it forward. 🐾 🎮
Mox Bellevue,

The Gauntlet auction is LIVE! 🎲✨

Bid on Magic: The Gathering items and help fuel Gamers Engaged’s work to connect the gaming community with causes that matter.

Whether you’re looking to build your collection, snag something special, or support the wild world of games-for-good, this is your chance to play along from anywhere.

Browse + bid here: https://www.ebay.com/usr/gamersengaged?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2559

Huge thanks to Wizards Of The Coast and Magic: The Gathering for donating items to make this auction possible.

Join the herd from home by tuning into the 2026 Gauntlet livestream hosted by returning sponsor BoardGameGeek, back for the second year in a row!

We’ll be streaming on Sunday, May 17, from 11 a.m. PST until the tournament wraps up at around 7 p.m. PST. You’ll catch all the play-by-play action as teams claw, scamper, and soar their way through the competition—and our commentators will also be giving away prizes to lucky viewers along the way.

You’re in for a treat; Dee Malley and Joe Senese return to host! It’s a paw-sitively wild way to experience Animalia, no matter where you’re watching from.