Knavecon Daily Board-Game Brief — Tuesday, 16 June 2026
A fairly busy Tuesday with Origins kicking off tomorrow and a few threads still developing from the past week or two. Not a blockbuster day, but enough to talk about.
Origins starts tomorrow. The big annual show in Columbus, Ohio runs June 17–21 and it’s the first major US convention of the summer season. Restoration Games already teased they’ll have The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit on display, and with Gen Con and Dice Tower East still ahead in July, expect a steady drip of previews and announcements from here on out. If you follow any US-based content creators, your feeds are about to get loud. Origins site
SU&SD dropped Podcast #297 — “Fomorian Fishies” a few days ago and it’s a good one. Matt and Tom are covering Moytura and Azure, the two abstract mythology games from Bitewing Games, plus Conservas — a solo game about canning fish — and Daydream. The Moytura chat is worth your time in particular, and the episode title is peak SU&SD. Their most recent video review was Dirt & Dust from mid-May, so we’re probably due a new video review any day now. Listen here
Spiel des Jahres winners announced July 12. Just a reminder that the nominations are locked in and worth tracking. For the main Spiel des Jahres: Cozy Stickerville (Corey Konieczka / Unexpected Games), Dito! (Martin Ang), and Morty Sorty Magic Shop (Markus Slawitscheck). The Kennerspiel is the more interesting race for most of us — Boss Fighters QR, Moon Colony Bloodbath (Donald X. Vaccarino), and Rebirth (Reiner Knizia). Vaccarino getting a Kennerspiel nod for a game about doomed moon colonies is not what anyone expected from the Dominion guy, and Knizia being in the conversation again at his age and output is just remarkable. Full nominees via W. Eric Martin
The Osprey Games situation continues to rumble on. Since Bloomsbury announced last month that they’re selling off Osprey’s board and card game line, the question is who buys it. Osprey are still committed to wargames and RPGs but the board game side — including the Undaunted series — is done for new commissions. They’ll be at Gen Con demoing Rattlesnake, CRAB RAGE!, and Undaunted 2200: Revolution, but after that, it depends entirely on whoever acquires the line. Wargamer had a solid write-up. This one matters because Osprey punched well above their weight in board games. Source: BoardGameWire
BGG Hotness for June has Cozy Stickerville at #10 (Spiel des Jahres bump), SETI holding steady, and War of the Dragon climbing. Finspan: Sharks & Reefs from Stonemaier is shipping June 26 and is already on the radar — Board Game Quest has a review up that’s mixed on the reef mechanism but positive overall. If you’re a Finspan fan, probably worth grabbing. BGG June Hotness video
Worth watching: Asmodee’s Zombicide: Dead Men Tales campaign closed at over $4.1m on Gamefound — their first major crowdfunding campaign since acquiring CMON’s Zombicide IP. That’s a significant marker. The Lord of the Rings publisher programme they announced in May (Grand Gamers Guild, Stone Blade, Play to Z) is still early days but expect reveals as we get closer to Gen Con. BoardGameWire on Zombicide
Ireland roundup. The big one coming up is the Irish Gaming Market Summer Edition on July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. It’s more general gaming than pure board games, but there’s always tabletop stuff there and it’s a good day out. Tickets should be available through irishgamingmarket.ie. Meanwhile, Rogue Gaming opened in The Liberties in Dublin on June 6 at 58 Francis Street — a dedicated tabletop gaming space covering board games, TCGs, and RPGs. They’re already running Flesh and Blood events and look to be building a proper community hub. Worth checking out if you’re in Dublin. Rogue Gaming. Further out, Gaelcon 38 runs October 23–26 at Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport, and Board Games Ireland on Meetup continue to run regular sessions in Dublin including their D8 Wednesday meetups. I didn’t find anything new for Limerick or Munster this week specifically — if anyone knows of summer game days being planned locally, shout in the group.
For the Knavecon community: Origins coverage starts flooding in from tomorrow. If you see a game that catches your eye from the previews, post it in the group — always good to build a wishlist for the next Knavecon.
One for the socials: “The Kennerspiel des Jahres shortlist is fascinating this year. Vaccarino designed a game about your moon colony being obliterated by predictable disasters, and the jury loved it. Knizia is nominated again. These two have been making games longer than some of us have been alive. Winners announced July 12.”
Victor Gannon Games 
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