Relatively busy Tuesday for board game news, mostly driven by crowdfunding wrapping up and BGG.CON looming large on the horizon. Here’s what’s worth your time.

Arkham Horror Remastered just closed huge on Gamefound. Fantasy Flight’s first “Vault Series” campaign ended over the weekend, pulling in somewhere north of $5.7 million from nearly 14,000 backers. They hit their $300k goal in under 18 minutes, which tells you everything about pent-up demand for this one. It’s a remaster of the beloved 2005 second edition — not a reimagining, not a new system, just the classic game with modern components and miniatures. Delivery is pegged for December 2027, so don’t hold your breath, but if you missed the window you’ll presumably be able to late pledge. Source: Gamefound campaign page / Bell of Lost Souls coverage

The BGG Hotness is full of post-Essen buzz. The current top of the Hotness list on BoardGameGeek runs: Schadenfreude, Greenwood, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Atlanteum, and Queen Alice. The BGG November top 10 video breaks it down nicely — Greenwood (from Christos Giannakoulas and Manolis Zachariadis) has taken the #1 spot, with Queen Alice from Combo Games right behind it. Other names worth knowing: -60° from Alexander Pfister, The Danes from Rosenberg and Köpke (which also just closed on Gamefound with nearly €1m from 9,000+ backers), and Kingdom Come: Deliverance from Vlaada Chvátil via CGE. A strong crop. Source: BGG Hotness / BGG November Top 10 video

Zoo Tycoon: Dinosaur Digs is having a good Kickstarter run. This standalone dino park game from Marc Dür launched November 3rd and has already blown past its 25,000 CHF goal, sitting at around 192,000 CHF with 1,400 backers and 24 days to go. Standard copies are CHF 85, deluxe at CHF 109. It’s a 1-4 player game and it’s the 13th campaign from Treecer, so they know what they’re doing on the production side. If you liked the original Zoo Tycoon board game, this is worth a look. Source: Kickstarter / Cards Realm coverage

BGG.CON 2026 is next week. November 18-22 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. If you’re going, the Hot Games library checkout list is already being assembled — Hell of a Deal, Entropy, and Hanami are topping the early requests. The BGG team mentioned BGCON Fall is also happening this month in a separate location downtown. For those of us not flying to Texas, the First Look games list for PAX Unplugged (December 4-6, Philadelphia) also just dropped, so there’s plenty of convention content coming. Source: BGG.CON page / PAX Unplugged

The Osprey situation continues to sting. This isn’t breaking news — it’s been unfolding since May — but Osprey Games has now let go of its entire board and card game development team and cancelled their Essen booth. Bloomsbury Publishing decided to sell off the board game line to refocus Osprey on books. That means no new Osprey board or card games are being commissioned. Given what they’ve published over the years (Undaunted, Cryptid, The King Is Dead), this is a real loss for the hobby. No word yet on who, if anyone, is buying the line. Source: Board Game Wire / Meeple Mountain

Worth watching right now: Nemesis Legacy from Awaken Realms is live on Gamefound and reportedly sitting at over €13 million. That’s the first full legacy campaign in the Nemesis universe. First wave shipping is planned for November 2027. Meanwhile, the November release schedule is stacked — DOOM: The Dark Ages Arena Board Game, Orléans Big Box, Rising Sun 2nd Edition, and Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship are all listed as estimated November releases.

Ireland stuff. The big one this week: the CATAN Irish National Championship is this Saturday, November 14th, at the Teachers Club on Parnell Square in Dublin. It’s sold out, but there’s a waiting list on Eventbrite if you want to chance it. The winner represents Ireland at the CATAN World Championship in 2027 and the European Championship in Portugal. Source: Eventbrite

BGICON 2027 tickets are now on sale — that’s the Board Games Ireland convention, Saturday January 9th at the Hilton Hotel in Northern Cross, Dublin. €15 a ticket, or €14 early bird if you grab it before November 15th. Free parking, full bar, runs 9am til late. If you’ve never been, it’s a proper full-day gaming con. Source: bgicon.ie

The Board Games Ireland Monday night meetup at Ryan’s of Store Street in Dublin ran last night as usual — free, casual, 6-9pm every Monday. They also do Sunday sessions at Alfie Byrne’s. In Cork, there’s a board game and Irish language evening starting up every Thursday from November 28th, details via the Board Games Ireland Facebook group. And if you’re a remote worker 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 from 7pm. Bit specific but I like the idea. Sources: Meetup.com / Facebook

For the Knavecon community specifically: if anyone’s heading to the CATAN Nationals on Saturday, report back. And those BGICON early bird tickets expire on the 15th, so if you’re thinking about it, this is the week.

One for the socials: “Arkham Horror Remastered just closed at over $5.7 million on Gamefound. Fantasy Flight hit their goal in under 18 minutes. Whatever you think about crowdfunding, there are clearly a LOT of people who wanted this game back. The 2005 version still has a grip on people.”

Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Friday, 6 November 2026

The post-Essen dust is starting to settle, and what a week it’s been. The big numbers from SPIEL are now official, the BGG Hotness list is doing that familiar reshuffle where everything from Essen fights for the top spots, and the Dice Tower dropped its Essen unboxing haul plus a fresh news episode. Meanwhile the November release calendar is stacking up nicely. If you went to Essen, you’re probably still sorting your haul. If you didn’t, you’re probably watching everyone else’s hauls and quietly adding things to wishlists. Either way, it’s a good time to be paying attention.

The five things that mattered most this week

SPIEL Essen 2026 officially hit 230,000 visitors, up 10,000 on last year’s already-record crowd. They opened Hall 8 for the first time, pushing total floor space to 81,200 square metres across all eight halls. 997 exhibitors from 53 countries showed 2,012 new titles. Every single day sold out. The organisers have also explicitly ruled out moving the show from Essen, which had been a rumour floating around for a while. That’s the hobby’s biggest public-facing event just continuing to grow year on year, and it’s hard to overstate how healthy that looks for the industry. (GodIsAGeek, ICv2)

Greenwood from Feuerland Spiele (distributed by Capstone in North America) is the breakout Essen darling. It shot straight to the top of the BGG Hotness and is still sitting there alongside The Danes (not out until 2027), Fragments: Solara from IELLO, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance – The Board Game. If you were at SPIEL, you saw the queues for Greenwood demos wrapping around corners on day one. Wargamer’s Mollie Russell sat down for an early demo and came away impressed — it’s a 1-4 player fantasy strategy game from Feuerland (the Terraforming Mars / Ark Nova people) where you play as Primal Spirits trying to save mystical creatures. The hype is real, but first proper reviews are still a few weeks out. (Wargamer first impressions, BGG Hotness)

Tom Vasel’s Essen unboxing dropped on November 3rd — always a useful barometer for what the Dice Tower team actually bothered to bring home. Games from Deep Print, plus a pile of smaller titles. The Dice Tower also ran their November 5th news episode, and the 19th Annual Dice Tower Awards results are still circulating — in case you missed it, Galactic Cruise (Kinson Key Games) took Game of the Year, Best Strategy Game, and Best Game from a New Designer. Luthier from Paverson Games won Best Production and Best Small Publisher. Vantage from Stonemaier took Most Innovative. Solid list, and notably heavy on crowdfunded euros from smaller publishers. (Dice Tower unboxing, Board Game Wire on Dice Tower Awards)

No Pun Included dropped their Essen hot games video — a two-hour-plus monster in their usual post-SPIEL style, covering everything they played on the show floor. It’s loose and chatty rather than their usual structured review format, but it’s the best way to get a feel for what Efka and Elaine actually liked versus what was just getting buzz. Worth your time if you want to narrow down what to chase from the Essen crop. (NPI Essen video)

November’s release calendar is looking interesting. Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship from Z-Man (Matt Leacock’s most mechanically rich Pandemic-system design) is rolling out globally — it launched at UKGE and Board Game Arena earlier in the year, and UK shops should have it by mid-November. Also hitting shelves this month: Hero Realms Dungeons, Mutagen Deluxe Edition, the DOOM: The Dark Ages arena game, and the Heroes of Might & Magic III Stronghold expansion. Kingdom Come: Deliverance – The Board Game launched at Essen and is available through CGE stores — pre-orders for the EU wave should deliver Q1 2027 at the latest. At $200/€150, it’s not cheap, but Vlaada Chvátil and Tomáš Holek co-designing is about as strong a pedigree as you’ll find. (BoardGamesNMore release schedule, Z-Man on Fate of the Fellowship, CGE on KCD)

Worth tracking next week

BGG.CON 2026 is coming up November 18-22 in Dallas. They’re running their official Hot Games Poll now, so keep an eye on what rises there — it tends to reflect what the most engaged hobbyists are actually excited to play rather than just marketing noise. Separately, keep watching for early proper reviews of Greenwood, Drillers (Czech Games), and Fragments: Solara. The Essen first-impression videos are everywhere right now, but the real signal comes when people have played these five or ten times at home. And Ghost Galaxy’s announcement about a new edition of Battlestar Galactica heading to crowdfunding in early 2027 is still generating chatter — if you ever wanted a copy but couldn’t stomach the aftermarket prices, your time may be coming. (BGG.CON, BSG announcement via ICv2)

Ireland

Gaelcon 2026 (October 23-26, Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport) wrapped up recently — Ireland’s oldest gaming convention, running since 1989. If you were there, you know. Looking ahead in November: there’s a Social Games Night in Dublin on the 27th at Jacobs Venue (via Eventbrite, run by the “Young & Figuring It Out” crew — looks like a lighter social-games crowd rather than heavy hobby stuff, but still worth flagging). NeuroGamers Belfast has a board game evening on November 12th at Happy Out Coffee — specifically aimed at neurodivergent gamers, 6pm to 9pm. Board Games Ireland continues its regular Tuesday evening and Sunday afternoon meetups in Dublin — they’ve got over 10,000 members on Meetup at this point, which is genuinely impressive for a board game group anywhere, let alone Dublin. Board & Brewed in Dún Laoghaire is running events through November as well. And the Ireland Card Show hits the RDS in Ballsbridge this Sunday (November 8th) — primarily trading cards (Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!) but if that’s your crossover interest, doors are 11am-5pm. I didn’t find anything new for Cork, Galway, or Limerick specifically this week, which is a shame. If anyone knows of regular game nights in Munster beyond our own Knavecon crowd, shout in the comments — I’d love to list them here. (Board Games Ireland on Meetup, Social Games Night Dublin on Eventbrite, NeuroGamers Belfast)

For the Knavecon community

Knavecon 27 was back in September at the Castletroy Park Hotel and the next one will come around before you know it. In the meantime, if anyone’s looking at the November releases — particularly Fate of the Fellowship or the KCD board game — and wants to organise a learn-to-play session, the Knavecon Facebook group is the place to do it. Also, if anyone’s heading to BGG.CON in Dallas later this month, report back. We want to know what’s good.

One for the socials

“SPIEL Essen hit 230,000 people this year. Every day sold out. 2,012 new games. And they’re staying in Essen. The hobby isn’t slowing down — it’s the opposite. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have about forty Essen haul videos to watch and a wishlist that’s getting dangerously long.”

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.”

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.”

Quiet enough Tuesday overall, but we’re in the middle of the Essen hangover and there’s still plenty to chew on. Spiel Essen 2026 wrapped up on Sunday after drawing 230,000 visitors — a new record — across eight halls. The dust is still settling and first impressions are flooding in from every corner of the hobby media. Here’s what’s worth your attention today.

The Essen afterglow is real. No Pun Included dropped their Hottest Games from Spiel Essen roundup, and it’s two hours of Efka and Elaine working through everything they played on the show floor. Queen Alice from Combo Games was the darling of the show — a mid-heavy euro with chess pieces, engine-building, and gorgeous artwork by Amelia Sales. It sat at #2 on the BGG Hotness going into the show and it’s still sitting there now. If you like your euros a bit weird and beautiful, this is the one to track. Avalon: The Riven Veil from Shadowborne and the Cold War area-control game -60° were the other two massive buzz generators. Wargamer also ran a nice best-of-show roundup covering some gems that aren’t getting as much attention — Mole Racing, Kinsokuchi, and a horror TCG called Hellbreak that apparently turned heads. Also from Graven Games, worth a look if you want quick hits rather than two-hour videos.

The Osprey Games situation got worse. We covered the Bloomsbury sale announcement back in May, but BoardGameWire reported on October 16th that Osprey has now let go of its entire board and card game development team and cancelled its Essen booth. The sale fell through — Bloomsbury couldn’t find a buyer willing to take on the staff alongside the catalogue. The final two titles, Undaunted 2200: Revolution and Upland & Prairie, will still ship as planned, but after that it sounds like the board game line is done. That’s the publisher behind the Undaunted series, the Imperium games, and a load of other well-regarded mid-weight stuff. Really grim outcome. Bloomsbury’s profits have nearly doubled in the last five years — this wasn’t about money, it was about strategic focus on books. The designers and staff deserve better.

Shut Up & Sit Down posted a review of Yotei. Their latest review is up on shutupandsitdown.com, covering the card game that was featured in their Board Games Direct 2026 previews back in July. Haven’t had time to watch the full thing yet, but SUSD reviewing a card game that was also featured in NPI’s Essen coverage suggests it’s one that’s going to get a lot of table time this autumn.

The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit finished its Kickstarter run. Restoration Games’ reimplementation of the beloved Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit closed on October 20th, pulling in $1.7 million. Two pledge levels — the Limited Edition at $199 and a frankly absurd Mithril Edition at $499 with over 150 miniatures, 3D Minas Tirith structures, the works. A retail edition through Space Cowboys/Asmodee is planned for 2027 with smaller boards and no 3D structures. If you missed it there should be a late pledge manager coming. Big Boss Battle had it as their easiest recommendation of October.

Chip Theory is learning from Neon Knight. A recent BoardGameWire piece covered how Chip Theory hired former Keymaster Games director Jennifer Graham-Macht to grow their lighter game imprint, Neon Knight. The honest bit: they admitted they were “maybe naive” about expecting their Too Many Bones audience to follow them into lighter games. They’re considering moving Neon Knight campaigns back to Kickstarter to reach a different audience. It’s refreshing when a publisher talks this openly about what isn’t working.

Games worth watching right now: Queen Alice is the obvious one — it’s going to be everywhere for the next few months. Gaudí from Devir (a tile-laying game by Dani Garcia) was getting strong Essen buzz. And keep an eye on Braided Skies, which topped the Board Game Hangover October hotness list and is climbing the BGG charts.

Ireland corner. Gaelcon 38 just finished its run this past weekend (October 23–26) at the Crowne Plaza in Santry — if you went, I hope you had a great time. Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention, 38 years and still going. For anyone who missed it, photos are already going up on their Instagram.

The next big thing on the Irish calendar is the CATAN Irish National Championship on Saturday November 14th at the Teachers Club in Dublin. €20 a ticket on Eventbrite, and it’s reportedly nearly sold out. The winner represents Ireland at the CATAN Worlds in 2027 and the Europeans in 2028. Three guaranteed games, then a top-16 knockout. If that’s your thing, don’t wait.

For the Knavecon community specifically: if anyone went to Gaelcon or Essen and picked up something interesting, bring it along to the next Knavecon. The Essen new releases will start filtering into Irish shops and online stores over the next few weeks. Queen Alice and Gaudí look like the kind of games our crowd would enjoy.

One for sharing: “Osprey Games gone. The Undaunted and Imperium publisher had their entire board game team let go because Bloomsbury couldn’t find a buyer. Profits nearly doubled in five years — they just didn’t want to make games anymore. Support the publishers who actually want to be here.”

It’s Essen week. That’s really all you need to know. The biggest board game fair in the world opened yesterday in Essen, Germany, and it’ll run through Sunday. But there’s been plenty else going on too — a major award, crowdfunding that’s still cooking, and a stack of reviews from the usual crew. Busy week.

Spiel Essen 2026 is happening right now

The big show kicked off on Wednesday the 22nd and runs through Sunday the 25th. Saturday is already sold out, and Thursday tickets hit 90% before the doors even opened. The organisers are targeting up to 230,000 visitors this year, which would smash the previous record of 220,000 set in 2019. That’s seven halls, 921 exhibitors from 53 countries, and over 1,500 new titles on show. If you’re not there — and most of us aren’t — the flood of “what I played at Essen” content will start hitting YouTube by Monday. No Pun Included have already posted their “Hottest Games from Spiel Essen” video, and various channels are doing live recommendations from the floor. Worth keeping an eye on the BGG Spiel Essen 2026 GeekPreview page (boardgamegeek.com) for the full list of what’s being shown.

Artengarten wins the Deutscher Spielepreis 2026

The big award of the week. Artengarten, designed by Mathias Wigge and published by Feuerland Spiele, took the Deutscher Spielepreis — Germany’s community-voted game prize, announced on Tuesday at Essen’s press conference. It’s a spinoff of Arche Nova (Ark Nova), which won the same award back in 2022. Second place went to Boss Fighters QR (Pegasus Spiele), and third to Galactic Cruise (PD-Verlag). Matt Leacock’s Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship — the Pandemic reskin — came in fourth, and Rebirth by Knizia placed sixth. Best Children’s Game went to Toriki: Eine Insel voller Abenteuer. The Arche Nova connection is interesting — Wigge and Feuerland clearly know their audience, and the DSP voters rewarded it. (brettspiel-news.de, spiel-essen.de)

Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains hits retail this week

The third standalone game in Kosch’s Forest Shuffle series launched at Essen and hit stores simultaneously. This one’s set in the Great Smoky Mountains and adds water-based terrain and new species — herons, bass, otters, black bears. The Dice Tower reviewed it back in August and it’s been on a lot of anticipation lists. If you liked Forest Shuffle (and a lot of people did), this is a day-one pickup. Lookout Spiele timed the release perfectly for the Essen crowd. (Polygon, Lookout Spiele)

Tidal Blades 2: Wardian Sky is crushing it on Kickstarter

Druid City Games launched the Tidal Blades 2 expansion campaign on October 13th and it’s sitting at 1,336% funded with a week left to go. It’s a narrative campaign dungeon-crawl with worker placement and dice upgrading, and the original game has a devoted following. If you’re into campaign games, this is worth a look before it closes on October 30th. Separately, Panopticon on Gamefound has hit 251% — it’s a cooperative adventure game from Pick ‘N’ Roll Games Lab. Firesiege, a co-op tower defense game, closes on October 28th on Kickstarter. (Kickstarter, Meeple Mountain crowdfunding roundup)

Dice Tower had a big review week

Tom Vasel and crew covered a pile of games in their October 19th Week in Review. The standouts: Avalon: The Riven Veil got a 7.5 — an Arthurian area-control game with solid multi-use cards but reportedly clunky rules. Prague Unseen scored a 7 — worker placement, four factions restoring Prague, nice visuals but thin theme. They also covered Greenwood, Pirates of Maracaibo, Drawing Dead, and an Army of Darkness game. Worth scanning their channel if you’re looking for something new to bring to the table. (Dice Tower)

What’s worth tracking next week

The Essen aftershock is the big thing. By Monday, every content creator who attended will be posting their top picks, hidden gems, and disappointments. That’s when the real signal comes through — not the preview hype, but the “I actually played this and here’s what I think” takes. Watch the BGG Hotness list next week too. It always reshuffles after Essen as people log new plays and the buzz games climb. Right now the Hotness includes Kingdom Crossing, Arctica, Not Alone Remastered, Braided Skies, Greenwood, Excursions, and An Infamous Traffic 2nd Edition. Expect Essen darlings to start appearing there by midweek. (Board Game Hangover)

Ireland

Gaelcon 38 starts today. October 23rd through the 26th at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport — Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention, in its 38th year. RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargames, trade hall, pub quiz, charity auction. If you’re reading this and you’re anywhere near Dublin this weekend, go. (iga.ie/gaelcon)

DARECon 2026 happened last weekend (October 17–18) in Naas — hope people got along to that. The more Irish conventions that exist and thrive, the better for the whole scene.

Coming up: the CATAN Irish National Championship 2026 is on Saturday, November 14th. Winners represent Ireland at the Worlds in 2027 and the Europeans in 2028. Tickets are on Eventbrite. (Eventbrite)

On the retail side, Rogue Gaming in Dublin is still relatively new and worth supporting — they’re running regular TCG events and have board games and RPGs. Meeps Gaming continues to be a solid independent Irish online retailer for board games. And the usual Dublin shops — Gamers World, The Warchest in Dún Laoghaire — are still your best bets for browsing in person.

Knavecon 27 ran last month and was great. We’re already thinking about the next one. More on that when there’s something to announce.

One for social media

Artengarten — a spinoff of Ark Nova — just won the Deutscher Spielepreis. Essen Saturday sold out before the doors opened. Forest Shuffle has a third standalone game. Whatever you think about the state of the hobby, it doesn’t look like a hobby that’s slowing down.

It’s Essen week, basically. Everything in board gaming right now is pointing toward Thursday when Spiel Essen 2026 opens its doors in Germany. That’s dominating the conversation, but there’s still a few things happening closer to home and in the wider hobby that are worth your time today.

Osprey Games is done with board games. This one landed last week but it’s still reverberating. Osprey Games — the publisher behind the Undaunted series, Imperium, and a bunch of other well-regarded designs — has let go of its entire board and card game development team and cancelled its Essen booth. Parent company Bloomsbury announced back in May that it wanted to sell the board game line, and now it looks like the axe has properly fallen. They say the last two titles, Undaunted 2200: Revolution and Upland & Prairie, will still ship as planned. Osprey will continue doing wargaming rulebooks and RPGs, but the board game chapter is closed. It’s a real loss — they punched well above their weight for years. Full story at BoardGameWire.

Essen Spiel 2026 kicks off Thursday. October 22–25 in Messe Essen. The preview list on BGG is live and the content creators are all in full preview mode. The games getting the most buzz: Jamey Stegmaier’s Braided Skies (set in the Smoking Bones universe — Stonemaier’s big release), Gaudí from Devir (a tile-laying game by Dani Garcia that looks gorgeous), Avalon: The Riven Veil (area control from the Oathsworn team — already generating mixed-but-mostly-positive reviews), Greenwood, For the Gods! from Mighty Boards, and the inevitable Kingdom Come Deliverance: The Board Game. If you can’t be there, the BGG preview page is the best way to track what’s dropping.

The Dice Tower’s Week in Review covered a good spread. Tom and Chris reviewed Avalon: The Riven Veil — Tom seemed to enjoy it, Chris gave it a 7.5 but flagged clunky rules and iconography issues. They also covered Greenwood, Restore, Prague Unseen, Drawing Dead, and others. Worth a watch if you want a quick temperature check on what’s landing right now. Dice Tower Week in Review – October 19.

Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit is still running on Kickstarter. Restoration Games’ reimplementation of Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit (the beloved 2000 grail game) launched on September 29 and appears to be doing well. It plays out the final battles of the Lord of the Rings across four theatres simultaneously — Minas Tirith, Pelennor Fields, the Black Gate, and the journey to Mount Doom. It’s ambitious, lavish, and probably expensive. If you ever wanted Queen’s Gambit but couldn’t stomach the aftermarket prices, this is your shot. Campaign page on Kickstarter.

BGG Hotness right now is full of Essen anticipation. Board Game Hangover posted their October rundown — Braided Skies, Kingdom Crossing, An Infamous Traffic second edition, Rebirth II, and Arctica are all trending. Drillers from CGE is sitting at position 10 on the current BGG Hotness. Magical Athlete and Gaudí also appeared in the latest Best of BGG video. Expect the whole list to get shaken up by Friday once Essen demos start.

On the Irish front. DARECon 2026 just wrapped up over the weekend — October 17–18 at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare, run by Naas Board Game Club. Two days of open play, RPGs, wargaming, and family gaming. Hope anyone who went had a great time — the more of these events we have on the island, the better.

Next up for Ireland: Gaelcon 38 runs this coming weekend, October 23–26, at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport. Ireland’s oldest independent gaming convention, going since 1989. RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargames, plus a trade hall and charity auction. Hotel rooms at the convention rate are €185/night single or €195 double. Details at iga.ie/gaelcon.

Also spotted: Cork Explore & Connect posted about a board games meetup that ran last week, sounding positive. And the Cork Action League continues its Monday night sessions at Bodega on Cornmarket Street at 6:30pm — always a good shout if you’re down that way. On BGG’s Ireland forum, there’s also a thread about a gaming group forming in East Cork/Midleton, which is good to see.

For the Knavecon community specifically — with Essen running this week, expect a flood of new hotness and impulse buys over the coming days. If you’re watching for games to bring to the next Knavecon, keep an eye on Braided Skies, Greenwood, and Gaudí as likely candidates for the tables. And if anyone’s heading to Gaelcon this weekend, report back.

One for the socials: “Osprey Games shutting down their board game line is a proper shame. Undaunted, Imperium, Crab Rage — they had genuine taste. Hope whoever’s behind those designs lands somewhere good.”

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.”

Knavecon Daily Briefing — Tuesday 13 October 2026

Busy day in board games. It’s mid-October, Essen is nine days away, and the crowdfunding platforms are absolutely heaving. Here’s what’s going on.

The big launch today is Stormlight: War for Roshar hitting Kickstarter from Brotherwise Games. This is John D Clair’s epic strategy game set in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive — think War of the Ring-style asymmetric warfare across the full map of Roshar, Coalition vs Odium, three-hour playtime. Sanderson himself has been all over this. If you’re into big thematic war games with proper heft, this is worth a look. It was demoed at Gen Con over the summer and the Wargamer preview was pretty positive. The Kickstarter page is live now.

Meanwhile the two biggest crowdfunding campaigns already running are still hoovering up money. Nemesis: Legacy from Awaken Realms launched on Gamefound on October 6th and has been absolutely flying — it’s their first full legacy campaign in the Nemesis universe. Fully co-op this time, which is a departure. Tabletop Analytics had it as the top-grossing campaign on Gamefound. And The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit from Restoration Games is still going on Kickstarter (closes October 20th), having already cleared $1.7 million. That’s Restoration doing what they do best — modernising a classic — this time giving the LotR treatment to the final battles of the War of the Ring. Campaign here. October is a wallet-destroyer.

On the new releases front, Braided Skies from Stonemaier Games lands tomorrow (October 14th) and is already sitting at #1 on the BGG Hotness. It’s a worker placement / exploration game designed by Dan Germain, set in the Smoking Bones universe. Board Gaming Ramblings reviewed it and gave it a 7/10 — “good, not amazing” was the verdict. Resource conversion on tracks with some upgrading. It’ll be at Essen too. Stonemaier continue to be prolific — between this and Duel of Meloch earlier in the year, they’re having a strong 2026.

Fantasy Flight are getting into crowdfunding for the first time with Arkham Horror: Remastered, the first title in their new Vault Series. It goes live on Gamefound on October 21st. This is a full remaster of Arkham Horror 2nd Edition with deluxe components, updated art, and new gameplay elements. FFG doing crowdfunding is a significant shift — details on their site. Worth watching even if you’re not an Arkham player, because what they do next in the Vault Series (Runebound? Twilight Imperium?) could be very interesting.

The rest of the BGG Hotness for October is dominated by Essen hype. Queen Alice, -60°, Timespan, and Gaudí are all generating buzz. The BGG Essen 2026 Preview list is live and SPIEL is using all eight halls at Messe Essen for the first time this year (October 22–25). It’s going to be enormous.

In Ireland, there’s a good bit happening. DARECon 2026 is this weekend — Saturday and Sunday, October 17–18, at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare. Run by Naas Board Game Club, it covers board games, RPGs, wargaming, family gaming, workshops, and late-night gaming on the Saturday. Tickets available on Eventbrite and Fienta. Free for under-10s with an adult. If you’re within striking distance of Kildare, that’s well worth the trip.

Gaelcon 38 is the following weekend, October 23–26, at the Crowne Plaza in Santry, Dublin 9. Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention, 38 years and counting. RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargaming — the full spread. Details on the IGA site. Hotel rooms are available at a convention rate if you contact the Crowne Plaza directly.

And looking a bit further out, the CATAN Irish National Championship 2026 is on Saturday November 14th. The winner represents Ireland at the Worlds in 2027 and the Europeans in 2028. Tickets are on Eventbrite. If you fancy yourself a settler, get entered.

For the Knavecon community specifically: DARECon this weekend is probably the nearest Irish convention to Limerick right now (about 2 hours up the M7). If anyone’s looking to scratch the convention itch before the next Knavecon, it’s a good shout. And if anyone’s heading to Essen in ten days, compare wishlists now — the preview list is enormous and it helps to have a plan.

One for the socials: “Three massive board game Kickstarters running at once, Essen in nine days, FFG getting into crowdfunding, and two Irish conventions in the next two weekends. October is absolutely relentless. Your wallet has my sympathies.”

Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Tuesday, 06 October 2026

Big day on the crowdfunding front. If your wallet survived Knavecon 27 ten days ago, brace yourself because October is coming for it hard.

The main event today is Nemesis: Legacy, which goes live on Gamefound at 6pm CEST (5pm Irish time). Awaken Realms are calling it the first full campaign experience in the Nemesis universe, and they’ve brought in Rob Daviau — the man who basically invented the legacy format — alongside Jaime Barriga to design it. The core pledge starts at €269 and there’s a massive bundle option at €419 if you want the whole Nemesis back catalogue included. This will fund in minutes, obviously, but the real question is whether the legacy structure works with a game that’s fundamentally about paranoia and hidden agendas. Daviau’s involvement makes me cautiously optimistic rather than just suspicious. The campaign runs until October 27th. (Gamefound page)

Also launching today on Kickstarter are two smaller games: Excursions: A Galactic Cruise Game from Kinson Key Games (managing space vacations, which is a fun pitch) and The Seekers from Off The Page Games, a hidden movement game. Neither of these are generating the same hype, but The Seekers might be worth a look if you’re into Fury of Dracula-style cat-and-mouse games.

The Dice Tower dropped their Week In Review for October 5th, covering a big stack of recent reviews including Dune Imperium Play System, Marvel Crisis Protocol Alliances, Thunder Road: Ignition, and Lorcana: Attack of the Vine. Dune Imperium Play System is interesting — it’s the revised modular version of the base game that Dire Wolf have been teasing. Tom’s also got a Crowdsurfing episode going up tomorrow covering this week’s launches, which should be useful if you want a quick video overview of what’s hitting crowdfunding.

Looking ahead this month, Stormlight: War for Roshar from Brotherwise Games hits Kickstarter on October 13th. It’s designed by John D. Clair, set in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, and the pitch is essentially a War of the Ring / Star Wars: Rebellion-scale asymmetric war game. Coalition vs Odium across the full map of Roshar. If you’re a Sanderson reader this is probably already on your radar, but even if you’re not, the mechanical pedigree is promising. Dice Throne Nexus also launches on the 13th from Roxley. And then on the 21st, Arkham Horror Remastered shows up. October is going to be expensive. (GodisaGeek preview)

The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit from Restoration Games is already live on Kickstarter — Restoration’s reimagining of the legendary Queen’s Gambit (the Star Wars one, not the chess show). It’s set across the final battles of Middle-earth, including a reportedly gorgeous Minas Tirith board. Big Boss Battle called it the easiest recommendation of the month, and from what I’ve seen of the campaign page, the production values look serious. Worth checking if you’re into epic-scale games. (Kickstarter)

Worth watching: Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains lands on October 22nd — third standalone in the series, this time with a water/riverside theme that changes up the synergies. Flamecraft Duals and God of War: The Board Game are also estimated for this month. The BGG Hotness is hard to pin down today but the Player Guild’s Collective Acquisition Disorder thread for October is already active, which tells you people are spending money.

Ireland corner

Knavecon 27 is done and dusted — hope everyone who came had a great day. The next thing on the Irish calendar is DARECon 2026 in Naas, Co. Kildare on October 17–18 at the Osprey Hotel. It’s organised by Naas Board Game Club and covers board games, RPGs, wargaming, workshops, and family gaming. Kids under 10 go free with an adult. They’ve put out a nice hand-drawn convention map and tickets are available at darecon.ie. If you’re in Leinster and fancy a weekend con, this is handy.

After that, Gaelcon 38 runs October 23–26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Santry. Ireland’s longest-running gaming convention — 38 years now. RPGs, board games, card games, LARPs, wargames, trade hall, pub quiz, the lot. Details and tickets at iga.ie/gaelcon.

For regular meetups, Board Games Ireland run sessions every Tuesday evening and Sunday afternoon in Dublin (currently at Ryan’s of Store Street on Mondays too). Cork Action League is active on Meetup. And the Corbiala directory at corbiala.world lists clubs across Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and beyond if you’re looking for something local.

For the Knavecon community: If anyone went to Knavecon 27 and played something that blew them away, post about it on the Facebook page. Those post-con recommendations are always the best ones — you’ve actually sat down and played the thing rather than just watched a review. And if you’re thinking about DARECon or Gaelcon later this month, shout in the group and see who else is going.

One for social:

Nemesis: Legacy launches today with Rob Daviau designing it. The man who invented the legacy format is now putting permanent stickers on your alien-infested spaceship. Either this is genius or we’ll all need therapy. Either way, take my money.