Fairly busy Tuesday for a November week. A few crowdfunding campaigns wrapping up, some ongoing drama in the publisher world, and a nice cluster of Irish events coming up. Let’s get into it.
Crowdfunding campaigns winding down this week
Board Game Quest’s weekly crowdfunding roundup flags several campaigns in their final days. Plants vs. Zombies: The Board Game from Mantic Games is funded and closing soon on Kickstarter — it’s a co-op lane defence thing for 1-4 players, and if the IP doesn’t excite you the underlying design actually looks decent. Dungeons of Tanares wraps up on Gamefound on the 5th (funded, $109+ pledge). And the one I’d flag for Knavecon types: The Thing: The Boardgame & The Cardgame from Pendragon Game Studio launches on Gamefound on November 10th. The original Thing board game is a brilliant hidden traitor game and copies have been hard to come by. If this reprint campaign delivers, it’s worth a serious look.
The Steamforged situation isn’t getting better
Backseat Gamer published a detailed piece about Steamforged Games and the £18.8 million in crowdfunded games backers are still waiting on. The short version: their TYRANT campaign’s P3 Wave 2 has slipped from June 2026 into 2027, refund requests are going unanswered, and their Companies House accounts are overdue. They did dodge a compulsory strike-off notice back in September — withdrawn after a few days — but the overall picture is grim. If you’ve got money tied up with them, you should be paying attention. If you haven’t backed anything from them yet, I’d hold off.
BGG Hotness and what’s trending
The BGG Hotness list right now is a mix of the usual suspects and some interesting movers. Concordia: Special Edition (the Awaken Realms crowdfunded version) is sitting near the top, which makes sense given it should be delivering to backers soon. Medico and Dewan have been climbing. Horror on the Orient Express: The Board Game — the Chaosium/Asmodee co-op that just hit retail — is generating a lot of buzz and some groups are already calling it their game of the year for 2026. Drillers is another one popping up across multiple hotness threads. And the evergreens are still there: Ark Nova, Brass: Birmingham, Arcs.
BGG.CON is in two weeks
BGG.CON 2026 runs November 18-22 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. If you’re going, you already know. If you’re not, the post-convention buzz usually surfaces the best new games people got their hands on, so it’s worth keeping an eye on BGG and socials around that time. The November retail release schedule from Asmodee includes a few things dropping that week too — expect plenty of first impressions content.
November retail releases to watch
Asmodee’s November release calendar has some interesting stuff coming through stores this month. Horror on the Orient Express just landed (already sold out in several places). Coming up: Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, DOOM: The Dark Ages Arena Board Game, and Hero Realms Dungeons are all estimated for November delivery via various retailers. The release schedule is worth a browse if you’re doing Christmas shopping for a gamer.
Over in Ireland
A few things happening on the island. The big one for competitive types: the CATAN Irish National Championship is on November 14th at the Teachers Club in Dublin. It’s already sold out, but you can join the waiting list — €20 a ticket, all levels welcome, first game kicks off at 10am sharp.
Up north, Larne Museum is running a free board gaming event on Saturday the 7th — “Cattle Battle,” a game based on early medieval Ireland developed by Carrickfergus Museum. It ties into their Kingdom of Latharna exhibition. Free but you need to book — ring them on 028 28 262443. It’s niche but honestly quite charming.
Board Games Ireland’s regular meetups continue — Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons in Dublin. Their Monday night at Ryan’s of Store Street and Sunday at Alfie Byrne’s are steady fixtures. And 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, 7pm start.
Looking further ahead: BGICON 2027 tickets are already on sale. January 9th at the Hilton Hotel in Northern Cross, Dublin. €15 a ticket, with early bird at €14 until November 15th. Worth booking if you want a solid day of gaming without the trek to Limerick.
For the Knavecon community
With Knavecon 27 done and dusted, the next thing to think about is whether you want to get a crew together for the CATAN Nationals on the 14th (waiting list only now, but worth a shot), or start planning for BGICON in January. And if The Thing campaign goes live on November 10th as planned, that could be a perfect Knavecon game — hidden traitor games always go down well with us.
One for social media: “The Thing board game is getting reprinted via Gamefound on November 10th. If you’ve ever tried to buy a copy and been met with absurd secondhand prices, this is your moment. Hidden traitor perfection.”
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