Knavecon Weekly — Friday 16 October 2026
Absolute chaos of a week. Three major crowdfunding campaigns running simultaneously, Essen less than a week away, two Irish conventions either happening right now or next weekend, and Hasbro quietly locking in its future with Renegade. If your wallet survived this week, you weren’t paying attention.
The five things that mattered this week
The biggest story is probably Satisfactory: The Board Game smashing through its Gamefound campaign. It launched on Monday the 13th with a €25,000 goal and blew past €900,000 within 24 hours — that’s 3,600% funded on day one. MOOD Publishing is developing it with Coffee Stain, and from what people who’ve played preview copies are saying, it genuinely captures the factory-building loop of the video game rather than just slapping a licence on a generic Euro. The campaign runs until November 11, base pledge is €70, deluxe is €135. English delivery estimated Q4 2027. (Gamemeca coverage, press release via MyNewsDesk)
Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit from Restoration Games is sitting at over $1.17 million on Kickstarter with four days to go. This is the reimplementation of Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit — the white whale that’s been going for mad money on the secondhand market for years. Restoration co-founder Justin Jacobson has said it’s a “beefier, better-balanced” version of the original. The Minas Tirith board looks absolutely gorgeous. Campaign closes October 20. (Kickstarter page, GodisaGeek writeup)
Nemesis: Legacy launched on Gamefound on October 6 and funded in under a minute, because of course it did. Awaken Realms is promising 35+ hours of campaign content with branching storylines and evolving characters. It’s the number one game on basically every “best of October” list going around. Whether you think Nemesis needs a legacy version or not, the market has clearly spoken. (Zatu coverage)
On the industry side, Hasbro and Renegade Game Studios renewed their licensing partnership, covering Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, Heroscape, Robo Rally, Acquire, and Ikusa, with new games and expansions planned for 2027 and beyond. Renegade has also been mixing Hasbro’s entertainment IPs into these systems — there’s already a G.I. JOE game “Powered by Axis & Allies” and G.I. JOE content for Heroscape. Separately, Renegade confirmed they’re done publishing World of Darkness RPGs at the end of 2026, with White Wolf taking that back in-house. Lords of Waterdeep is also returning in a new edition next year. Lot of moving pieces at Renegade right now. (BoardGameWire, ICv2, Renegade blog)
And then there’s Essen. SPIEL runs October 22–25, and the BGG GeekPreview list has hit 1,287 new games. That number is absurd but that’s Essen for you. Games I’m seeing mentioned most in preview lists: Braided Skies (Jamey Stegmaier’s new one, set in the Smoking Bones universe), Recall (spiritual successor to Revive, getting very positive early buzz), Bunny Kingdom Town (Richard Garfield, two-player), Gaudí, and the Avalon: The Riven Veil hype train continues. Board Game Review UK did a nice top 10 Essen preview worth reading if you’re trying to narrow down what to look at.
What’s worth tracking next week
Next week IS Essen week, so expect an avalanche of first impressions, surprise announcements, and people spending far too much money. The King’s Gambit Kickstarter closes on Tuesday the 20th, so last chance on that. Chip Theory’s Neon Knight imprint officially launches on October 27 — their attempt to do lighter, more retail-friendly games, which is an interesting pivot from the company that makes Too Many Bones. They’ve hired Jennifer Graham-Macht from Keymaster to run it, which suggests they’re serious about it not just being a side project. (BoardGameWire)
On the review front, the Dice Tower put out their October 15 news show and have been reviewing steadily — Tom covered Very Big Monster this week. SU&SD’s latest review was Yotei, which is now on their front page. The Dice Tower’s Crowdsurfing episode from October 14 covered what’s live on Kickstarter and Gamefound if you want a video walkthrough of the current campaigns. (Dice Tower, SU&SD)
Ireland
Big weekend. DARECon is literally happening right now — today and tomorrow at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare. Two days of board games, RPGs, wargaming, family gaming, workshops, and late-night gaming on Saturday. It’s run by Naas Board Game Club and tickets are available through Fienta or Eventbrite. If you’re reading this Friday morning and can get to Kildare, go. (darecon.ie)
Then next weekend it’s Gaelcon, October 23–26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport. Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention — 38 years now. RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargames, trade hall, panels, pub quiz, charity auction. The annual Gaelcon Math Trade is live on BGG right now and open to anyone with an Irish postal address (including the North). If you’ve got games to shift, get your listings in. (BGG math trade, Gaelcon via IGA)
The Board Games Ireland Meetup group in Dublin continues to run regular sessions — there’s a Wednesday meetup, a Sunday session at the Black Sheep on Capel Street, and Monday nights too. (Meetup)
Worth noting that Meeps Gaming, the independent Irish retailer, lists Knavecon on their convention schedule for 2026 alongside WarpCon, AthVentureCon, and others, which is nice to see. Rogue Gaming in Dublin also looks like it’s becoming a proper hub for the Dublin tabletop scene. (Meeps Gaming, Rogue Gaming)
Knavecon 27 ran last month at the Castletroy Park Hotel — if you were there, you know how it went. For anyone who’s got the itch already, DARECon this weekend is about two hours up the M7 from Limerick, and Gaelcon next weekend is worth the trip to Dublin.
One for the socials: “Three massive board game crowdfunding campaigns running at once, Essen in six days, and two Irish conventions in the next two weekends. October is absolutely relentless. Your wallet doesn’t stand a chance.”
Leave a Reply