Knavecon Weekly — Friday 2 October 2026

Busy week. October is always when board gaming kicks into another gear and this year is no different. SPIEL Essen is now just three weeks away, the crowdfunding platforms are buzzing, and there’s a stack of new stuff either landing on shelves or launching campaigns in the next fortnight. Plus two Irish conventions coming up this month. Let’s get into it.

The five things worth knowing from this week

The biggest news is probably the Nemesis Legacy campaign going live on Gamefound next Tuesday, October 6th. Awaken Realms have brought in Rob Daviau — the man who literally invented the legacy format — to co-design alongside Jaime Barriga, and this is the first full campaign experience set in the Nemesis universe. They’ve also announced “Recharge Packs” so you can reset and replay the whole thing, which addresses the single biggest complaint people have about legacy games. If you’re a Nemesis fan this is going to be hard to resist. Pre-campaign page is already up on Gamefound.

A week later on October 13th, Brotherwise Games launch the Kickstarter for Stormlight: War for Roshar, an asymmetric strategy war game set in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. John D. Clair designed it. It’s being compared to War of the Ring and Star Wars: Rebellion, which is a bold comp but Brotherwise have earned some trust with their Cosmere work. They showed it at Gen Con and it picked up a Gaming Trend award. If you’re into big two-player war games with strong theme, keep an eye on this one.

Fantasy Flight have confirmed October 21st as the launch date for their Arkham Horror: Remastered Gamefound campaign — their first ever crowdfunding project. This is the 2nd Edition getting a full remaster with deluxe components, updated art, and the entire run of expansions. For those of us who loved 2nd Edition and watched it go out of print, this is a big deal. It’s part of FFG’s new “Vault Series” where they’re revisiting older titles. Details on the FFG site.

SPIEL Essen 2026 runs October 22-25 and they’re claiming multiple records this year — more exhibitors, more nations represented. If you’re going, tickets are online-only as usual. Notable Essen launches include Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains (the third standalone game in Kosch’s series, this time set in the Great Smoky Mountains with a water/river focus), Drillers from CGE which is sitting at #10 on the BGG Hotness right now, and what looks like a massive slate of new releases. SPIEL info here. For those of us not going, expect the usual flood of Essen preview content over the next couple of weeks.

And finally, Dune: Imperium – Conspiracy is confirmed for Q4 retail, with some retailers listing an October 31st date. This is the next expansion from Paul Dennen and Dire Wolf, adding an overthrow mode where one player takes on the Emperor role. It’s timed to land around Dune: Part Three in cinemas, which is smart. Polygon have it on their most anticipated fall list.

What’s trending on BGG

The Hotness list right now is dominated by Essen-adjacent buzz. Braided Skies is sitting at #1, Electrify and Gaudí are right behind it. Timespan, The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit, -60°, and Dorfromantik: South Seas are all in the top positions too. Drillers from CGE has climbed into the top 10 — that’s a deck-building mining game that’s been getting quiet praise. Avalon: The Riven Veil is also generating a lot of chatter, with Tabletop Gaming magazine featuring it in their latest issue. These are all worth watching over the Essen period to see what has real staying power versus hype.

Ireland

Two Irish conventions on the radar this month. DARECon 2026 is October 17-18 at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare — run by Naas Board Game Club, two days of open play and community tables. Worth the trip if you’re in the Leinster area. darecon.ie for tickets. Then Gaelcon returns for its 38th year, October 23-26 at the Crowne Plaza in Santry, Dublin. Four days covering board games, RPGs, LARPs and wargames. It’s Ireland’s oldest independent gaming con and always a good weekend. iga.ie/gaelcon for info and tickets — bedroom rate at the hotel is available if you email reservations.

Our own Knavecon 27 last Saturday was a great day — thanks to everyone who came out. If you missed it, the next one will be announced in due course.

For the Knavecon community

October is stacked with crowdfunding launches. If you’re the type who backs things, the next three weeks are going to test your wallet — Nemesis Legacy (Oct 6), War for Roshar (Oct 13), and Arkham Horror Remastered (Oct 21) are all launching within a fortnight of each other. Worth having a conversation at the next game night about which ones people are actually interested in playing versus which ones just look good in a campaign video. There’s a difference.

One for the socials

Three massive crowdfunding campaigns launching in October — Nemesis Legacy, Stormlight: War for Roshar, and Arkham Horror Remastered. Plus SPIEL Essen. Plus Dune Imperium Conspiracy hitting shelves. October might be the most expensive month in board gaming this year. Pace yourselves.

Knavecon 27 was three days ago and hopefully you’ve all recovered. Good timing to get back to the news because there’s a decent amount happening this week, mostly driven by Essen Spiel being less than a month out and the crowdfunding cycle turning over.

Essen preview season is properly underway. Asmodee dropped their full SPIEL Essen 2026 lineup last week — the headline is the show launch of Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains from Lookout Games and an advance preview of The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict from Office Dog. Shut Up & Sit Down had already flagged Circle of Conflict back in their Board Games Direct coverage over the summer and it looked interesting then. Asmodee are also bringing a LEGO Ninjago game from Dotted Games, which is presumably aimed at the family market. The BGG Essen preview list is now live and self-service, so publishers are adding their games daily. If you’re heading to Essen on October 22–25, now’s the time to start building your hit list. Asmodee announcement via Nasdaq, BGG preview list, BoxedMeeples Essen preview video.

The Dice Tower’s Week in Review dropped yesterday and they covered a pretty solid batch: Heroscape Secrets of the Citadel, Greylune, Minikin City, Glimmerdeep, Kingdomino The Lost Treasures, DECKO, Kronologic Babylon 2500, Carcassonne Labyrinth, and — yes — Monopoly Over Three Generations, which apparently exists now. Of that lot, Glimmerdeep and Greylune are the ones getting the most chatter on BGG. Worth a scan if you’re looking for something new. Dice Tower Week in Review.

Several crowdfunding campaigns are wrapping up today and this week. Barbaric: Crown of the Frost on Gamefound ends today — it blew past its $20k goal and is sitting somewhere north of $140k. It’s an expansion for the post-apocalyptic duelling game Barbaric: After the Apocalypse from Hexa House. Tangled Yarns, a co-op cosmic horror game with adorable sheep (yes, really), ends October 1 on Kickstarter. Over on Meeple Mountain’s crowdfunding roundup, Capitalize (Kickstarter, ends Oct 2), Dinomada (Gamefound, ends Oct 4), and Lionwake are all live and funded. Board Game Quest crowdfunding roundup, Meeple Mountain roundup.

Entropy continues to dominate BGG. Board&Dice’s big 2026 release designed by Luciani, Battista, and Mangone — the lads behind Grand Austria Hotel, Tiletum, and Barrage between them — is still sitting in the BGG Hotness at position 16 after selling out in two hours at Gen Con. It’s a cosmic engine-builder with a double orbital rondel, which is exactly the kind of sentence that makes euro gamers weak at the knees. If you haven’t looked into it yet, it’s probably the most-talked-about heavy game of the year. BGG page, Meeple Mountain review.

Games worth watching: Everdell Journeys is on Kickstarter and seems to be doing well. The Great Sea from Garphill Games (distributed by Renegade) is up for pre-order and promises a heavier, more interactive take on the Ancient Anthology series — that’s SJ Macdonald and Zach Smith rather than Shem Phillips at the design helm. Expected later this year. And the Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs – Pub Crawlers expansion is fulfilling internationally through late September, so some of you may have that landing soon.

For the Knavecon community: If you were at Knavecon 27 on Saturday, post your highlights and what you played in the Facebook group. Those posts are genuinely useful — they help people discover games they might not have tried, and they keep the community ticking over between events. DARECon in three weeks is an easy trip if you fancy another convention fix before Gaelcon.

One for social media: “Essen Spiel is less than a month away and the preview list is already massive. Meanwhile Entropy sold out at Gen Con in two hours and is still burning up the BGG Hotness. Good time to be into board games.”

Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Friday, 25 September 2026

A big week, and an even bigger weekend. Crowdfunding campaigns are wrapping up, Essen previews are flooding in, and — oh yeah — Knavecon 27 is tomorrow. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here’s what happened in board games this week.

The Clank! 10th anniversary campaign is closing in on $1.75 million on Kickstarter, with the campaign ending around October 1st. The Cube of Holding storage solution and The Forgotten Vault expansion have clearly hit a nerve with the Clank! faithful. Dire Wolf have been drip-feeding content all month — Master Thief Editions, upgrade packs, the lot. If you’re a Clank! person, the clock’s ticking. Campaign page on Kickstarter.

Everdell Journeys closes today. Tycoon Games ran the campaign to over 900% of its $35k goal, landing somewhere north of $319k. It’s a card-drafting spin on the Everdell world rather than a straight expansion — different system, different feel. The deluxe version scales up to 10 players with solo and co-op modes, which is ambitious. Delivery estimated August 2027. If you’ve been sitting on it, today is literally your last chance. Everdell Journeys on Kickstarter.

Horror on the Orient Express is landing in people’s hands. Chaosium’s massive Call of Cthulhu board game adaptation — which Kickstarted back in 2024 — has started shipping. BGG chatter from the “Best of BGG September” video confirms copies are reaching backers now. It’s a 1-4 player co-op adventure designed by Adam Kwapiński, and early word-of-mouth sounds positive. Paul Grogan from Gaming Rules! has already put up a full playthrough on YouTube. One to watch if you’re into narrative co-ops.

Garphill Games’ The Great Sea is heading to Kickstarter soon — their social media says one week out as of September 15th, so the campaign should be live any day now. It’s a Phoenician maritime trade game for 2-4 players, part of their Ancient Anthology series, with Renegade handling retail distribution (pre-orders showing a November 2026 date on their site). If you like what Garphill have done with the West, North, and South Trilogy games, this is very much in that wheelhouse. Renegade product page.

Entropy continues to sit on the BGG Hotness at position 16, which is remarkable for a game that’s been hovering there since it was announced back in January. The Luciani/Battista/Mangone design from Board&Dice — a cosmic civilisation-building Euro about creating life across the galaxy — is shaping up as possibly the most anticipated Essen release. It featured heavily in the 401 Games Essen preview and keeps getting namechecked everywhere. If you’re heading to Essen October 22-25, this’ll be the queue.

Speaking of Essen, the SPIEL Essen 2026 preview list is now live on BGG. Over 1,700 new products listed. The ticket shop is open. All eight halls of Messe Essen will be in use. If you’re planning to go, start thumbing things on the preview list now so you can sort your schedule. It’s less than a month away.

On the review front, Shut Up & Sit Down covered Otter on their podcast on September 10th — a climbing/shedding card game that apparently got a good reception. Their Board Games Direct 2026 series earlier in the summer previewed over 60 upcoming titles across seven themed episodes, which remains a great resource if you’re trying to figure out what’s worth tracking. The Dice Tower’s Week in Review for September 7th covered Wild Magic and a few others. It’s been a quieter week for the big reviewers — everyone’s saving their powder for Essen season.

Worth tracking next week: City of the Great Machine: The Story Unfolds is live on Kickstarter now with $165k raised from 2,300 backers — the expansion to CrowD Games’ asymmetric steampunk game, running until mid-October. Gallery Gambit launches September 28th. And the Food Chain Magnate Special Edition leftover copies campaign went live on Gamefound September 1st — if you missed the original campaign and want that Lucky Duck treatment, check if copies remain.

Ireland

Right then. Knavecon 27 is tomorrow. Saturday, September 26th, Castletroy Park Hotel, Limerick. Doors at 10am, running until the wee hours. €20 adults, €10 students/unwaged, kids free with an accompanying adult. Full games library, free coffee all day, raffle. If you haven’t got your ticket yet, sort it at victorgannongames.com. Cork people allowed under license, as always.

Looking ahead, DARECon 2026 is the next Irish board game convention on the calendar — October 17-18 at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare. It’s run by Naas Board Game Club and features two days of open play, organised games, and family tables. Tickets are on Fienta and Eventbrite, ranging from free (kids under 10) to €25 for a weekend pass, with half-price concessions. Worth supporting — the more Irish board game events that exist, the better for everyone.

After that, Gaelcon 38 runs October 23-26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport. Ireland’s oldest independent gaming convention — RPGs, board games, card games, wargames, LARP, the lot. Advance board game bookings are on Warhorn.

So between Knavecon tomorrow, DARECon in three weeks, and Gaelcon a month out, it’s a genuinely good autumn for tabletop in Ireland.

For online shopping, BoardGamer.ie in Waterford continues to operate as a solid Irish-based option with free delivery over €90. Meeps Gaming is another Irish indie shop worth a look. Dublin-side, Rogue Gaming on Instagram looks active for TCG and board game events. If anyone knows of new shops or regular game nights popping up around Munster, drop it in the Knavecon Facebook group — always good to have that info shared.

Talking point for the Knavecon community: Tomorrow’s the day. Sixteen hours of gaming. If you’re bringing a game you want to get to the table, post it in the Facebook group today so people can read up on rules tonight. Nothing worse than spending the first hour of a con teaching a game nobody’s prepped for. See you all in the morning.

One for social: “Knavecon 27 tomorrow. Sixteen hours of board games, free coffee, and Cork people allowed under license. This is what September is for. See you in Limerick.”

Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Tuesday, 22 September 2026

Four days out from Knavecon 27 and it’s a good week to be paying attention. There’s a new Kickstarter launching today, Essen Spiel is exactly a month away, and a couple of crowdfunding campaigns are in their final stretch. Let’s get into it.

The big thing landing today is Bookwyrm, a cozy midweight strategy game about book-hoarding dragons organising their shelves. It’s 1-4 players, designed by Lizzy Ives at Sword & Rose Press, and it goes live on Kickstarter today. The pitch is charming — it’s a spatial puzzle where new books keep arriving from the bookshop and you’re trying to curate a glorious collection without it descending into chaos. They tried the traditional publisher route, got nowhere, and are self-publishing. A Place For All My Books proved there’s an audience for this kind of theme, and this looks like it goes a bit deeper mechanically. Worth a look if that kind of thing appeals.

The Clank! Cube of Holding and The Forgotten Vault Kickstarter is heading into its final week, sitting at about $707k from nearly 5,800 backers. Dire Wolf are celebrating 10 years of Clank! with a new expansion, a deluxe storage cube, and updated Master Thief Edition components across the whole line. If you’re already a Clank! person this is probably a no-brainer, but the Mastery Pack upgrade path for existing copies is a nice touch — you don’t have to rebuy everything. Campaign page here. Ends September 29th.

Meanwhile, Space King: The Board Game from Flashgitz — the Warhammer 40K parody from the YouTube animation lads — has blown past $4 million on Kickstarter with a few days left (ends September 25th). It’s a HeroQuest-style minis-heavy dungeon crawl thing. The numbers are absurd for what’s essentially a comedy IP board game, with pledges averaging over $370 per backer. There’s apparently a trademark dust-up with Games Workshop brewing too, which is entirely on brand. Tech Times covered the phenomenon here. Not for everyone but the crowdfunding numbers tell their own story.

On the BGG Hotness this month, Entropy from Board&Dice (Luciani, Battista, Mangone) is sitting at #10 and continuing to generate buzz since its GenCon debut. It’s the rondel-driven eurogame about building solar systems and evolving life. Reviews have been broadly positive — Meeple Mountain gave it a “Fair” but BGG ratings are sitting at 7.8 from 500+ ratings, which is solid. If you like crunchy euros from the Teotihuacan/Messina 1347 school, this is the one to track heading into Essen.

Essen itself — SPIEL 2026 runs October 22-25 — and the BGG preview list has been live since early September. Deep Print Games have their pre-order system running through the official app, and publishers are now in full preview mode. If you’re going, or even just tracking what’s coming, the BGG preview list is the place to start.

In Ireland, the only thing that matters this week is Knavecon 27 on Saturday. Castletroy Park Hotel, Limerick, 10am, running into the small hours. Tickets are €20 adults, €10 students/unwaged, kids free with an adult. That includes the games library and free coffee all day. The raffle is reportedly a big one this year. If you haven’t sorted your ticket yet, this is the week. After that, Gaelcon 38 is the next big one on the calendar — October 23-26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Santry. Four days of RPGs, board games, LARPs and wargames. Their online RPG tickets are already on sale. Beyond those two, I couldn’t find any new Irish game shop openings or local event announcements in the last couple of days — if you know of something happening, drop it in the comments.

For the Knavecon community specifically: if you’re coming Saturday, have a think about what you want to play. The library will be massive as always, but if you’ve a game you’ve been dying to try, bring it along and rope people in. That’s how the best Knavecon sessions happen.

One for social media: “Bookwyrm launches on Kickstarter today — a cozy strategy game about dragons hoarding books. Meanwhile Clank! is about to close out its 10th anniversary campaign at over $700k and Space King has somehow cracked $4 million for a Warhammer parody game. Oh, and Knavecon 27 is Saturday. See you in Limerick.”