This was the week Essen happened and the dust is still settling. SPIEL 2026 ran from the 22nd to the 25th, Gamefound launched its October Feast crowdfunding blitz, Gaelcon wrapped up in Dublin, and Osprey Games — the publisher behind Undaunted and Sankoré — effectively shut down its board game division. Big week. Let’s get into it.
SPIEL Essen 2026 delivered the goods. Nearly 1,000 exhibitors from over 55 countries packed Messe Essen, and the early reports are filtering in. Polygon’s Sam Nelson highlighted seven standout games, with three that caught my eye: the Diablo board game (Diablo: Unbound from Glass Cannon Unplugged, a co-op dungeon battler for 1–4 players), a new Cyberpunk TCG, and Mercenaries Wanted — a Gloomhaven spinoff from Dennis Vögele that condenses the Gloomhaven experience into a 45-minute draft-and-play format. Over on BGG, someone ranked all 40 games they played, with Medico at the top followed by Final Titan and Timespan. No Pun Included put up a two-hour Essen roundup video and name-checked Tax the Rich (a trick-taker) in the post-Essen hotness. The Reddit highlights thread has people raving about Road Master, a pick-up-and-deliver game that apparently had an excellent demo. Worth trawling through if you want to know what to look for when the Essen releases hit Irish shelves.
Osprey Games is done with board games. This has been rumbling since May when Bloomsbury announced the sale of the board and card game line, but it became real on October 16th when Osprey let their entire board game development team go and cancelled their Essen booth. The Undaunted series, Sankoré, General Orders, Battalion — all of that came from this team. Bloomsbury is “refocusing” Osprey on book publishing, wargames, and RPGs. The board game line is still up for sale, so there’s a chance someone picks it up, but right now no buyer has been announced. It’s a genuine loss. Osprey punched well above their weight in terms of design quality. If you see their stuff on sale, now might be the time.
Gamefound’s October Feast is running hot. The platform launched a batch of campaigns on October 21st, and the headline acts are Diablo: Unbound (already at #1 trending on Gamefound), Blade Runner 2049: The Board Game (a 1–4 player narrative investigation game from Creative Games Studio), Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, the Troyes Special Edition from Quined/Pearl Games, and a new Earthborne Rangers expansion. Blade Runner looks interesting — co-op detective work with the ESPER system, moral choices, and a strong narrative spine. Delivery estimated 2027. The Troyes special edition is the one to watch for euro gamers. November campaigns are already being previewed by Tantrum House, so the crowdfunding firehose isn’t letting up.
On the BGG Hotness, Greenwood from Feuerland Spiele is sitting at #1, having shot up after its Essen release. It’s a fantasy game about leading companions to save mystical creatures — sounds light but it’s from Goblins on Board, who have been designing games for 20 years and clearly had a strong showing. Queen Alice is at #2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance at #3. Greenwood also hit the BGG Bestsellers list at #10 in its first week. Shut Up & Sit Down’s latest review is Yotei, which Matt called “one of his absolute favourites from 2026” and “way more charming than it has any right to be.” That’s about as strong a recommendation as SU&SD gives without using the R-word.
Retail releases this week included Accidental Heroes from Lucky Duck Games and Gnoooomes: The Hunt for the Scepter of Valmora, both out on October 27th. Cascadia: Alpine Lakes also hit retail this month. The big October releases — Arkham Horror Remastered, Stormlight: War of Roshar, Nemesis Legacy, Dice Throne Nexus — should all be findable at this point if you’re looking.
In Ireland, Gaelcon 38 ran last weekend (23rd–26th October) at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Santry. Ireland’s oldest independent gaming convention — 38 years running — with RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargames, and a charity auction. If you went, I hope it was good.
Looking ahead: BGICON 2027 tickets are now on sale — January 9th at the Hilton Hotel in Northern Cross, Dublin. €15 a ticket, with early bird pricing at €14 until November 15th. The Board Games Ireland group runs that one and it’s a solid day out. Their regular Monday night meetup at Ryan’s of Store Street continues weekly, and the Sunday sessions at Alfie Byrne’s opposite the National Concert Hall are still going. If you’re in Cork, there’s a Board Game Night for Remote and Hybrid Employees on November 19th at the Old Town Whiskey Bar at Bodega — free entry, starts at 7pm, bit niche but worth knowing about. The CATAN Irish National Championship is on November 14th at the Teachers Club in Dublin — €20 on Eventbrite, winner represents Ireland at Worlds. The Gathering in Limerick continues to be the local shop option, and Rogue Gaming opened in The Liberties in Dublin earlier this year for anyone who hasn’t checked it out yet.
For the Knavecon community: Knavecon 27 was back in September and the next one will come around soon enough. In the meantime, if anyone went to Essen or Gaelcon and picked up something new, the Knavecon Facebook group is the place to show it off. The Essen new releases — Greenwood, Medico, Mercenaries Wanted — will start appearing in Irish shops and online retailers over the coming weeks. Start your wishlists.
One for the socials: “Osprey Games gone, SPIEL Essen wrapped, Gamefound going mental with licensed games, and Greenwood topping the BGG charts. October 2026 might be the most packed month in board gaming I can remember. And we still have PAX Unplugged in December. No one’s wallet is safe.”
Leave a Reply