Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Weekly Edition, Friday 04 September 2026
It’s been one of those weeks where the news is more about what’s about to happen than what’s already landed. September is stacking up to be a monster month for crowdfunding, Dragon Con and PAX West are both running this weekend with tabletop components, and there’s a growing pile of interesting games hitting shelves. Meanwhile, Essen is now less than seven weeks away. Deep breath.
The September crowdfunding calendar is ridiculous. Tantrum House put out their September overview and the volume is hard to ignore. Food Chain Magnate: Special Edition from Lucky Duck Games relaunched on Gamefound on September 1st — same rules, completely overhauled components, miniatures for the restaurants, the Ketchup Mechanism expansion included. It’s a one-off print run with no retail planned, so if you want it, that’s your only window (Gamefound page). Then on September 8th you’ve got Everdell Journeys hitting Kickstarter via Tycoon Games (everdelljourneys.com), and later in the month there’s Ten Years of Clank from Dire Wolf, City of the Great Machine’s expansion, and more. Brass: Pittsburgh from Roxley is still open on Gamefound too — that campaign has now crossed $11.4 million, which is staggering for a Martin Wallace sequel (Gamefound). Estimated shipping March 2027.
Duel of Meloch is getting reviewed everywhere and the reception is genuinely interesting. Jamey Stegmaier’s idea to combine Scythe and Expeditions into a head-to-head duelling game sounded gimmicky when it was announced, but the reviews are largely positive. BoardGameQuest reviewed it, Board Game Views called it “extremely cohesive” (link), and Shelfside raised some balance concerns around the scoring track but still found it engaging. It plays in about 45 minutes and apparently captures the feel of both games without being a diluted mess. That’s the bit I didn’t expect. It was sitting at #7 on BGG’s July Hotness list and seems to be holding strong on shopping threads into September (BGG).
The TTGDA contract benchmark is the most important industry story of the summer. The Tabletop Game Designers Association published their Contract Scoring Rubric and full Market Contract Analysis in August (report PDF, Board Game Wire coverage). They’ve scored and compared the standard contracts that publishers offer designers, looking at payment fairness, IP protection, designer involvement, and use of names and likenesses in marketing. This is significant. It’s the first time anyone’s done this publicly and systematically, and it gives designers real leverage when negotiating. If you know any aspiring game designers, point them at this.
Shut Up & Sit Down wrapped their Board Games Direct 2026 series over the last few weeks — a video a day covering different categories of new and upcoming games. The co-op and solo video (#4) is worth watching if that’s your thing (SUSD site), and the shorts by Dani Standring have been great bite-sized looks at individual titles. Highlights from their library additions include Citadels Duel (coming fall 2026), Brass: Pittsburgh, and Mechs vs. Minions: Bandle City Edition. Their coverage of The Queen’s Dilemma — a standalone King’s Dilemma follow-up for 3-6 players — caught my eye. That’s available now.
On the convention front: Dragon Con is running in Atlanta right now through Sunday (September 3-7), PAX West is live in Seattle this weekend (September 4-7) with an expanded tabletop area in the Summit building including a board game library, TCG zone, and RPG sessions (PAX West tabletop details). And Spiel Essen tickets are on sale — October 22-25, with close to 950 exhibitors expected (spiel-essen.de). If you’re going from Ireland, now’s the time to sort flights and hotels.
Games worth tracking right now: Revenant from Mindclash Games (set in the Voidfall universe, competitive worker placement, getting strong reviews on Meeple Mountain and elsewhere — BGG page), The Great Sea from Garphill Games (Phoenician maritime trading, pre-orders open for November release via Renegade — renegadegamestudios.com), and Buttons & Bugs: Pub Crawlers from Cephalofair (the Gloomhaven solo spinoff gets its first expansion, shipping this month — Cephalofair). Also keep an eye on the BGG July Hotness video which just dropped — Harmonies: Crescendo, Chivalry from Dávid Turczi, and Altera were all featured alongside the Duel of Meloch (BGG video).
Ireland corner. The big one for us: Knavecon 27 is September 26th at the Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick. Tickets are €20 adults, €10 students/unwaged, kids free with an adult. Full games library, free coffee all day. You know the drill. Get your tickets sorted at victorgannongames.com.
Beyond that, the Irish convention calendar is stacking up nicely for autumn. Collector Con Ireland is next weekend — September 12-13 at the RDS in Dublin (Eventbrite). It’s more of a TCG/collectibles event than pure board gaming, but if you’re into Pokémon, Lorcana, or sports cards it’s worth the trip. DARECon 2026 is confirmed for October 17-18 at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare — run by Naas Board Game Club, it’s two days of open play, organised games, and family tables. Tickets on darecon.ie. And Gaelcon 38 runs October 23-26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport — Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention covering RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, and wargames (iga.ie/gaelcon). Board Games Ireland’s Meetup group continues to run regular events — check them on Meetup for Dublin dates. And if you haven’t been, Board & Brewed in Dún Laoghaire is Dublin’s dedicated board game café with 700+ games, stone-baked pizza, and BYOB nights on Fridays (boardandbrewed.ie). I’ve heard nothing new from the Munster side beyond our own Knavecon, which tells me there’s still a gap to fill down here.
For the Knavecon Facebook community: September is going to be busy. Knavecon 27 is three weeks out. If there are games you want to make sure are in the library, now’s the time to shout. And if you’re heading to Essen in October, let’s coordinate — there’s always a better deal on games when a few of us pool shipping.
One for social: “The TTGDA just published a public scorecard ranking how fairly board game publishers treat their designers. Every game designer should read it. Every publisher should be nervous about it. This is how industries improve.” (boardgamewire.com)
Victor Gannon Games 
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