EMERGENT is a 2026 CRIT Awards Finalist for Best Indie TTRPG – VOTING LIVE NOW!
Emergents, something horrific got out into the world successfully: It’s US!
EMERGENT has been named a finalist for Best Indie TTRPG at the 2026 CRIT Awards. 🎉
We’re absolutely hyped. The CRIT Awards are peer creators and players in the TTRPG space — those same people put these finalists forward, nobody bought a slot on any of these lists, just earned them by being beloved.
That means this nomination came because of you: everyone who backed the Kickstarter, everyone who read it, ran it, rated it, posted about it, gave us a chance at a con, and survived the monsters made of yours fears
And the company we’re in is no joke, it’s a great crowd. This year’s Best Indie TTRPG finalists:
- Underfoot, An Itty-Bitty Fey RPG: Ella Carter
- The Words We Leave Behind: Craig Duffy
- In the Shadow of Glory: Jessie Lee
- Once Upon a F&%$ing Time: Eerie Games
- EMERGENT: Shield Brothers Games
They’re all worth a look, for sure. Do that if you’d like, then come back!
Vote!
Voting is open right now, and it takes just a few minutes.
👉 VOTE HERE 👈
Final voting closes August 23, 2026, with winners announced at the awards ceremony on September 26. There are a lot of other categories in that form too — actual plays, creators, artists, communities, all great — so scroll through and show some love to the rest of the space while you’re in there.
If EMERGENT has meant something to your table, this is the single most useful minute you can spend for us, the team behind it, on it beyond just playing and enjoying.
New here? The game is on sale.
If this is your first time seeing the name, here’s the pitch:
EMERGENT is a high-school horror TTRPG about teenagers awakening to hidden powers as an extraplanar fear Monster invades their reality, threatens their home, and might even cancel prom. You balance school, relationships, Responsibilities, Strain, and Fear while developing one of 24 supernatural Power Trees (15 Nodes each + bonus content!), investigating what’s happening to your town, and surviving things that were never supposed to be here.
- 24 powers, each with its own 15-Node Power Tree
- 12 hand-crafted Monsters, plus a 15,000+ word Monster Builder for GMs who want to make their own
- Strategic combat, with a focus on collaboration, teams, creative thinking, and a fully fledged crafting system.
- Limited time Sequences per in-game day – school, friendships, obligations, and whatever’s hunting you, all fighting for the same hours
- A finished, fully illustrated, hand designed, AI-free 300+ page core rulebook
If Stranger Things, X-Men, It, Super 8, Alan Wake, or Life is Strange live somewhere in your brain, this one’s for you.
EMERGENT is on sale for $12.50 right now – a great excuse to grab it, read it before voting closes, and see what all this is about.
Thank you
This game exists because the community showed up for it! Through the Kickstarter, through the print run, through every session you’ve hosted and told us about since. For every livestream and charity VODs you’ve sponsored, AND SO MUCH MORE.. Being on this list with these creators is the kind of thing we didn’t ever expect, and are SO grateful for. 🔥
Now go vote, if you can. The horrors can wait an extra minute.
– The EMERGENT team. 🖤