Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Tuesday, 4 August 2026
Quiet enough start to the week, which isn’t surprising — everyone’s still digesting the Gen Con firehose. But there are a few things worth your attention as August gets going.
The big news from last Thursday is the Dice Tower Awards. Galactic Cruise took Game of the Year, which is a genuinely interesting pick. The designers — T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, and Koltin Thompson — weren’t on anyone’s radar before this game, and neither was the publisher (Kinson Key Games). It had already won the Golden Geek for best heavy game and a Meeples Choice Award, so this completes a proper clean sweep. Love seeing an unknown outfit come out of nowhere and take the top prize. Opinionated Gamers has a good write-up.
Stonemaier’s Duel of Meloch is about to hit general retail. If you didn’t grab it from their webstore in July or pick it up at Gen Con, expect it in shops and online stores by late August (Game Nerdz has it listed for August 28). It’s a standalone 1-2 player dueling game where one player uses Scythe mechanics and the other uses Expeditions mechanics, and every faction/character from both games is compatible. It’s an unusual product — genuinely cross-compatible with two existing games — and early reception from Board Game Quest has been positive. Whether it’s more than a curiosity for people who don’t already own both Scythe and Expeditions is the real question. Stonemaier’s design diary is worth reading.
If you missed it in the Gen Con noise, Allplay announced a new edition of Dominant Species as the first title in their “Masterworks” line, with Ian O’Toole doing the art. That’s a proper pairing — O’Toole’s graphic design on a game that’s always been fantastic mechanically but looked a bit like a geography textbook. It’s coming to Kickstarter, likely October. They also announced Through the Mountains, a sequel to Through the Desert, and a big adventure game called Crash Landed. Gaming Trend covered the full Allplay lineup.
Whisperwood from Cardboard Alchemy (the Flamecraft people) launches on Kickstarter next Monday, August 11. It’s a bag-building game for 1-4 players, heavier than anything they’ve done before — 120 to 180 minutes, so a proper sit-down game. Co-designed by Brad Brooks, Erin McDonald, and Christian Strain. It’s been doing the rounds at Origins and Gen Con in prototype form and prototypes have been getting into people’s hands. One to watch if you like the studio but wanted something with more meat. BGG page here.
Shut Up & Sit Down have been running their Board Games Direct 2026 series — they’re up to episode 4 now, covering co-op and solo games. The thematic games episode from July 20 highlighted Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict (coming this autumn) and Thunder Road: Ignition (this month). If you haven’t been following the series, their BGD tag page has the lot. It’s their equivalent of a convention preview show and it’s been solid this year.
Worth watching: the BGG Hotness right now is dominated by Gen Con aftermath. Entropy from Board&Dice was the people’s choice #1 most wanted game at the show. Drillers, Wingspan Pocket, Lairs, and Timespan are all trending heavily. Hacienda from Pandasaurus — a Patagonian wildlife conservation game — hits retail on August 26 and is generating quiet buzz. Board Game Hangover did their August hotness rundown.
Ireland corner. Board Games Ireland continues running their regular meetups in Dublin — Sundays at Black Sheep Pub on Capel Street and Monday nights at Ryan’s on Store Street. Both are free, casual, and welcoming to new players. Meetup page here. Over on Eventbrite, the Irish Card Market – Summer 2026 is on August 15 at the Royal Marine Hotel if that’s your thing, and an Irish Catan Jamboree is listed for September 5 at Board And Brewed. Dublin Comic Con Summer Edition is August 8-9. The next proper tabletop convention on the island is Gaelcon 38 in Dublin, October 23-26 at Crowne Plaza Airport — Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention. Down in Limerick, The Gathering on O’Connell Street is still the go-to FLGS and gaming spot. Nothing new popping up that I can see, but if anyone knows of events in Munster over the summer, drop it in the Knavecon Facebook group.
For the Knavecon community specifically: Knavecon 28 was a great day back in April and the next one isn’t announced yet, but if you’re looking for gaming between now and then, those Dublin meetups are worth a visit if you’re up that way, and keep an eye on the Gathering’s event calendar in Limerick for local organised play.
One for the socials: “Galactic Cruise just won Dice Tower Game of the Year. Nobody had heard of the designers or the publisher a year ago. That’s the hobby at its best — you don’t need a marketing department, you just need a good game.”
Victor Gannon Games 
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