Mooning About the 2027 Toy of the Year Finalists

Several months ago, I happened across the game Rump Race from PlayMonster and thought, "I want to highlight this absurdity"...but how? A butt-themed round-up? A second glance at 2015's Butts away! Heroes? A look inside AssAssin's Crack: Very Nice Bootyhood?

Thankfully, an opportunity to expose this game revealed itself when Rump Race was one of seven finalists for "game of the year" in The Toy Foundation's 2027 Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards. (The Toy Foundation is the charitable arm of The Toy Association, a trade association for the U.S. toy industry.)

The TOTY award is not championed by modern gamers because its nominees and winners are usually uninspiring for that audience. The Toy Foundation website lacks a database of past winners, which seems odd, but you can search for press releases to discover previous "game of the year" winners such as:

• 2026: Exploding Kittens: The Board Game
• 2025: UNO: Show 'Em No Mercy
• 2024: —no award as Toy Fair did not take place—
• 2023: 5 Second Rule: Relay
• 2022: Pokémon Trading Card Game: Pokémon GO Elite Trainer Box
• 2021: Pokémon Trading Card Game: Battle Academy
• 2020: Pictionary Air
• 2019: Disney Villainous
• 2018: Soggy Doggy
• 2017: Yeti in My Spaghetti

One title stands out in the list above as being more gamery than all the others, and that should probably be expected given The Toy Foundation's description of its "game of the year" award:

Family and children's games made for players ages 0-14, including board, card, electronic, and other physical game formats, exclusive of games specifically for players ages 14 to adult (strategy, party, or mature-themed as examples), video games, and app games.

Beyond ensuring that your game lacks strategy(?), another hurdle for potential nominees is that, as with the Mensa Select award, companies must pay a submission fee: US$250 per nomination for members of the Toy Association, and either US$495 or US$895 per nomination for non-members depending on whether your business has annual sales below or above US$5 million.

What's more, should your nomination be a finalist or winner, Toy Association members will need to pay US$995 to place a seal denoting this on the product, while non-members must pay US$5,000 per seal.

Okay, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that hobby game publishers don't show up on these lists. Speaking of which, here are the seven finalists for 2027's "game of the year" TOTY:

• CATAN: On the Road, by Benjamin Teuber and asmodee
• Foosbots Rivals Cup, by Fat Brain Toy Co.
• Kanoodle Party, by Educational Insights
• Rubik's Rush, by Spin Master Ltd.
• Rump Race, by PlayMonster Group LLC
• Sanibel, by Elizabeth Hargrave and Hasbro, Inc.
• Tonieplay Monopoly Real Estate Rush Game, by tonies USA

I'll note that the TOTYs credit only publishers/manufacturers, not the authors or creators of the items being honored, but I've added author credit for the two games for which I know who to credit. (The publishers of mainstream games and toys rarely credit individuals, and I have found no credits for the other five items.)

As for the games themselves, here are summaries:

• CATAN: On the Road — This pocket game presents a CATAN-like experience in 15 minutes, with all of the game boiled down to a deck of cards. Players need to collect or trade the right resources to build settlements and other cards and reach the 7-point victory threshold first. (more details)
• Foosbots Rivals Cup — In this soccer simulation, two players compete to score goals by squeezing the sides of their plastic player. When you do, its rotating legs spin wildly, allowing you to kick the ball, ideally off the end of the playmat to score.
• Kanoodle Party — Kanoodle is a logic puzzle in which you try to fit twelve polyominoes into a rectangular grid. Kanoodle Party has up to four players taking 5- or 30-second turns to try to complete the puzzle first, which seems like something you could do with the original Kanoodle.
• Rubik's Rush — This electronic puzzle features thirteen light-up squares in a diamond shape. During play, you're presented with some combination of lit-up squares in up to five colors, and you need to quickly press the square that will complete a three-in-a-row. Advanced levels speed up play.
• Rump Race — Set up two balloons in the plastic device, then race to fill up your balloon and have it pop first. How do you fill it? A plastic inflator box is connected to the device with a tube, and you need to bounce your butt on and off this box as quickly as possible. Baby, get back!
• Sanibel — Walk the beach picking up shells and other items depicted on cardboard tiles that you then "drop" in your bag. Race ahead to get first pick from a lot, or linger to collect more of what was left behind. (my 2025 preview)
• Tonieplay Monopoly Real Estate Rush Game — Tonieplay is an electronic device with a button you can spin and press. When you play this "Tonie", you try to collect the most title deed cards by participating in auctions and completing mini-games.

If it matters, I've voted for Sanibel since it's the most gamey game present on this list, and it would be nice to see that game featured in media lists that tout the TOTY winners. (I'm registered as a member of the media with The Toy Association, which is how I'm able to attend Toy Fair, so I get to participate in this process.)

The Toy Foundation notes that "The product category winners are determined by three ballots weighted equally: Toy Association members, retailers, and media", but I'm not sure how to interpret the "three ballots weighted equally" phrase. You can participate as well to help determine the "People's Choice" winner in each category. Vote here! (Note that the "game of the year" category bears a video game controller icon, despite video games not being eligible. Odd.)

One final note: Here are the guidelines for how finalists are selected—

—and despite the line stating that "Companies can have up to two (2) finalists, as long as they are not the same brand", in 2027 LEGO has eight finalists across seven categories. This is not unusual as in 2026 LEGO had ten finalists across six categories and in 2022 LEGO won seven of the categories out of the nine in which it had finalists.

LEGO — built different.