Knavecon Daily Board Game Briefing — Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Decent amount to talk about today. Origins Game Fair just wrapped up in Columbus over the weekend, a couple of crowdfunding campaigns launched this morning, and there’s a genuinely interesting story about Asmodee’s financials doing the rounds. Plus Q-Con Belfast literally just happened. Let’s get into it.

Origins 2026 is done and dusted. The big annual US convention ran June 17–21 in Columbus, Ohio, and the early reports are filtering in. The game that seemed to be everywhere was Cozy Stickerville from Unexpected Games — that’s Corey Konieczka’s latest, a sticker-driven village builder that people are describing as “Stardew Valley the board game.” It was already climbing the BGG Hotness all month and Origins seems to have pushed it over the edge. Early BGG reviews are very warm. Worth keeping an eye on if you like lighter, narrative-driven stuff. Asmodee also used Origins to show off upcoming titles for late 2026, including a new Take Time expansion and more from their Star Wars lines. The Opinionated Gamers have an early report if you want the on-the-ground view.

Asmodee’s numbers tell an interesting story. BoardGameWire broke down Asmodee’s latest financials and the headline is that the company hit €1.68 billion in revenue — up 23% — but over 72% of that now comes from distributing other people’s games, mainly trading card games like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. Their own board game publishing sales actually fell 5.8% year-on-year, and nearly 10% in the most recent quarter. The CEO was directly asked whether Asmodee is still really a board game publisher or just a distribution company at this point. That question is going to keep coming up. If you publish under Fantasy Flight, Days of Wonder, or any of the Asmodee subsidiaries, this should worry you.

Shiver Me Timbers reprint launches today on Gamefound. The pirate sandbox game by Michal Vitkovsky is back with a reprint and new expansion called Gunpowder Glory. It’s a 1–5 player Euro-influenced pirate game that did well in its first run and has been hard to find since. If pirate themes and sandbox play are your thing, this one’s worth a look. The campaign went live today — Meeple Mountain’s crowdfunding roundup has it listed alongside a couple of other June 23 launches on Kickstarter.

UK board games market growing at 11%. Buried in a Smoothie Wars blog roundup, the British Toy and Hobby Association apparently released figures showing board games growing at 11% year-on-year for the first five months of 2026, with strategy games specifically doing even better. That tracks with what UK Games Expo reported — attendance was up 64% over three years and the show is now genuinely challenging Gen Con in scale. UKGE also announced £50,000 in charity donations across three charities this year, which is a nice note.

Worth watching right now: Cozy Stickerville continues to dominate the BGG Hotness and is probably the most-discussed new game of the summer. Everdell: The Great Delve has pre-orders open and a new solo mode that’s generating buzz. And keep an eye on Essen preview season kicking off properly in July — Stonemaier, Asmodee, and several UK independents will start showing hands.

Ireland corner. Q-Con Belfast happened this past weekend (June 20–21) at Queen’s University. It’s volunteer-run by the QUB Dragonslayers Society and covers board games, RPGs, card games, anime, the lot. If you went, hope you had a good one — their socials suggest it was a solid turnout. Coming up this weekend there’s the Irish Competition Galecon in Limerick on June 27–28, though that’s specifically a Mortem et Gloriam miniatures wargaming event rather than a general board gaming day. In Dublin tomorrow night (Wednesday the 24th), there’s an Adult Board Games Social Night at This Must Be The Place in Smithfield — €10.62, starts at 6:30pm, bring your own games or play theirs. The Board Games Ireland Meetup group (~9,900 members) continues to run regular sessions. IGM Summer Edition is confirmed for July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire — tickets should be available. And Gaelcon 38 is locked in for October 23–26 in Dublin. Rogue Gaming, which was announced as Dublin’s newest tabletop gaming hub, was supposed to open spring 2026 — their site still says “Opening Spring 2026” so unclear if that’s happened yet or if it’s slipped.

One for the Knavecon crew: Q-Con just happened, Irish Competition Galecon is in Limerick this weekend, and IGM Summer is three weeks out. If you’re looking for gaming between now and the next Knavecon, those are your best bets on the island. Worth posting in the Facebook group to see if anyone’s organising a car to Dún Laoghaire for IGM in July.

Social media thought: “Asmodee made €1.68 billion last year. Their own board game sales went down. Seventy-two percent of their revenue is now from distributing other people’s card games. At what point do we stop calling them a board game company?”

Quiet enough Saturday, but there’s a convention happening on both sides of the Atlantic so let’s dig in.

Origins is in full swing. Origins Game Fair 2026 kicked off on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio and runs through tomorrow. It’s the penultimate day today so the announcements are flowing. Asmodee showed off a bunch of upcoming titles including Citadels Duel and Azul Kids, plus the Take Time: Mirage expansion from Libellud coming in October. Eric Martin at Board Game Beat has been doing his usual excellent job documenting the show floor reveals. Meanwhile Allplay has a big presence at the show and is demoing their new edition of Container — a game many of us missed first time round due to insane prices and limited supply. GamingTrend also reports Allplay teased three new games at the show. If Container delivers on its promise at Allplay’s price point, it could be one of the year’s best pickups for economic game fans.

UK Games Expo aftermath keeps rumbling. The numbers from UKGE a few weeks ago are still being processed. The 20th anniversary show pulled in 51,196 unique attendees with total footfall of 87,837 — making it the largest event the NEC Birmingham has ever hosted. Geeknative reported the infrastructure actually “buckled under massive crowds,” which isn’t great, but the growth is undeniable. UKGE also announced they’re donating £50,000 across three charities: Lifelites, SUDC UK, and The Williams Montessori School Foundation. Fair play to them. For context, Board Game Wire noted the show has now overtaken Gen Con in trade hall floor space, putting it second only to Spiel Essen. That’s massive for a UK show.

Asmodee’s numbers tell an interesting story. Board Game Wire reported that Asmodee’s annual revenue surged to €1.68 billion, but here’s the thing — over 72% of that now comes from distributing other companies’ products (largely TCGs like Pokémon and Magic). Their own board game sales actually fell. The company also completed their €180 million acquisition of French social games publisher ATM Gaming (Speed Bac, Mouton Mouton) back in April, clearly doubling down on the mass market party game space. If you’re a hobby gamer wondering why Asmodee feels like it’s drifting away from you — well, the numbers confirm it. They’re a distribution company now that happens to also publish board games. Source: Board Game Wire.

BGG Hotness and what people are playing. The June BGG Hotness video featured some interesting names. Cozy Stickerville from Corey Konieczka’s Unexpected Games debuted at #10 — interesting to see Konieczka going cozy after years of epic-scale stuff. SETI from CGE is still hanging around. On Board Game Arena, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring trick-taking game is pulling nearly 9,000 plays, with Castle Combo, Harmonies, and Wingspan all doing strong numbers. The Concordia Special Edition campaign on Gamefound hit over 16,000 backers before closing, though it’s worth noting Awaken Realms had to publicly pledge “no AI art” after getting review-bombed on BGG. Their Agricola Special Edition is sitting at a 6.2 rating with a third of its scores being 1s. The AI art backlash in this hobby isn’t slowing down.

Worth watching: Kemet: The Gates of Thonis is generating real buzz — new maps, new colours, six-player support, and an escalating crystal pyramid mechanic that sounds properly clever. Also keep an eye on Everdell: The Great Delve (underground expansion, pre-orders already open, August retail) and the newly announced Cascadia: Fauna standalone for families. And Cephalofair quietly dropped the Buttons & Bugs: Pub Crawlers expansion announcement on June 18th.

Ireland corner. Q-Con Belfast is literally happening right now — today and tomorrow, June 20–21, at Queen’s University Belfast. Board games, RPGs, wargames, tournaments, the lot. Run by the QUB Dragonslayers Society, volunteer-run, proper grassroots stuff. If you’re anywhere near Belfast this weekend, get yourself there. Details on Facebook and tickets via Fixr.

Looking further ahead for Irish events: IGM Summer Edition is July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. Gaelcon 38 returns October 23–26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport — they’re looking for board game facilitators and volunteers if anyone fancies it. Rogue Gaming, a new tabletop gaming space in Dublin, announced an opening for Spring 2026 though I haven’t seen confirmation it’s actually open yet — one to check if you’re Dublin-based. The Monday night board games meetup via Board Games Ireland on Meetup continues upstairs in Ryan’s Bar, and there’s a regular Dublin Games Night group running too. Down south I couldn’t find any Munster-specific events coming up, which is a gap we know well. That’s partly why Knavecon exists.

For the Knavecon community specifically: if anyone went to UKGE or is at Origins this weekend, it’d be great to hear what games stood out. Allplay’s Container reprint, the Kemet expansion, and Corey Konieczka’s new direction with Cozy Stickerville all feel like the kind of things that would land well at a Knavecon table. Let us know on the Facebook page what you’ve got your eye on.

One for social: “UKGE just overtook Gen Con in trade hall size and is now the second-largest tabletop show in the world after Essen. Twenty years ago it was a few tables in a hotel. That’s some going.”

Knavecon Daily Board-Game Brief — Tuesday, 16 June 2026

A fairly busy Tuesday with Origins kicking off tomorrow and a few threads still developing from the past week or two. Not a blockbuster day, but enough to talk about.

Origins starts tomorrow. The big annual show in Columbus, Ohio runs June 17–21 and it’s the first major US convention of the summer season. Restoration Games already teased they’ll have The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit on display, and with Gen Con and Dice Tower East still ahead in July, expect a steady drip of previews and announcements from here on out. If you follow any US-based content creators, your feeds are about to get loud. Origins site

SU&SD dropped Podcast #297 — “Fomorian Fishies” a few days ago and it’s a good one. Matt and Tom are covering Moytura and Azure, the two abstract mythology games from Bitewing Games, plus Conservas — a solo game about canning fish — and Daydream. The Moytura chat is worth your time in particular, and the episode title is peak SU&SD. Their most recent video review was Dirt & Dust from mid-May, so we’re probably due a new video review any day now. Listen here

Spiel des Jahres winners announced July 12. Just a reminder that the nominations are locked in and worth tracking. For the main Spiel des Jahres: Cozy Stickerville (Corey Konieczka / Unexpected Games), Dito! (Martin Ang), and Morty Sorty Magic Shop (Markus Slawitscheck). The Kennerspiel is the more interesting race for most of us — Boss Fighters QR, Moon Colony Bloodbath (Donald X. Vaccarino), and Rebirth (Reiner Knizia). Vaccarino getting a Kennerspiel nod for a game about doomed moon colonies is not what anyone expected from the Dominion guy, and Knizia being in the conversation again at his age and output is just remarkable. Full nominees via W. Eric Martin

The Osprey Games situation continues to rumble on. Since Bloomsbury announced last month that they’re selling off Osprey’s board and card game line, the question is who buys it. Osprey are still committed to wargames and RPGs but the board game side — including the Undaunted series — is done for new commissions. They’ll be at Gen Con demoing Rattlesnake, CRAB RAGE!, and Undaunted 2200: Revolution, but after that, it depends entirely on whoever acquires the line. Wargamer had a solid write-up. This one matters because Osprey punched well above their weight in board games. Source: BoardGameWire

BGG Hotness for June has Cozy Stickerville at #10 (Spiel des Jahres bump), SETI holding steady, and War of the Dragon climbing. Finspan: Sharks & Reefs from Stonemaier is shipping June 26 and is already on the radar — Board Game Quest has a review up that’s mixed on the reef mechanism but positive overall. If you’re a Finspan fan, probably worth grabbing. BGG June Hotness video

Worth watching: Asmodee’s Zombicide: Dead Men Tales campaign closed at over $4.1m on Gamefound — their first major crowdfunding campaign since acquiring CMON’s Zombicide IP. That’s a significant marker. The Lord of the Rings publisher programme they announced in May (Grand Gamers Guild, Stone Blade, Play to Z) is still early days but expect reveals as we get closer to Gen Con. BoardGameWire on Zombicide

Ireland roundup. The big one coming up is the Irish Gaming Market Summer Edition on July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. It’s more general gaming than pure board games, but there’s always tabletop stuff there and it’s a good day out. Tickets should be available through irishgamingmarket.ie. Meanwhile, Rogue Gaming opened in The Liberties in Dublin on June 6 at 58 Francis Street — a dedicated tabletop gaming space covering board games, TCGs, and RPGs. They’re already running Flesh and Blood events and look to be building a proper community hub. Worth checking out if you’re in Dublin. Rogue Gaming. Further out, Gaelcon 38 runs October 23–26 at Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport, and Board Games Ireland on Meetup continue to run regular sessions in Dublin including their D8 Wednesday meetups. I didn’t find anything new for Limerick or Munster this week specifically — if anyone knows of summer game days being planned locally, shout in the group.

For the Knavecon community: Origins coverage starts flooding in from tomorrow. If you see a game that catches your eye from the previews, post it in the group — always good to build a wishlist for the next Knavecon.

One for the socials: “The Kennerspiel des Jahres shortlist is fascinating this year. Vaccarino designed a game about your moon colony being obliterated by predictable disasters, and the jury loved it. Knizia is nominated again. These two have been making games longer than some of us have been alive. Winners announced July 12.”

Knavecon Weekly Board Game Roundup — Friday 12 June 2026

Good week this one. A bit of proper industry news, the BGG Hotness doing interesting things, Origins kicking off next week, and — genuinely exciting — a new board game shop opened in Dublin. Let’s get into it.

The five things that mattered this week

The biggest industry story is Steamforged Games gutting its board game department to go all-in on Warmachine. As reported by Goonhammer and Wargamer, the layoffs hit about a third of SFG’s workforce, cutting across design, 3D modelling, and brand management. Their Kickstarter board game business — Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, Elden Ring, all those big-IP crowdfunding campaigns — was how they built the company. Now Warmachine is the priority and the crowdfunding side is getting stripped back. They say they’ll still deliver on existing campaigns. We’ll see. If you’re waiting on a Steamforged Kickstarter fulfilment, keep an eye on this.

Asmodee’s first crowdfunding campaign under their own banner closed out with $4.1 million for Zombicide: Dead Men Tales. They acquired Zombicide from CMON last year, ran the campaign through Gamefound, and hit their funding goal in about 33 minutes. Pirate-themed zombie bashing for 1-6 players. The Zombicide machine keeps rolling regardless of who’s driving it. Interesting to see how Asmodee handles the fulfilment side — that’s always been the tricky bit with crowdfunding at scale.

On the awards front, the Spiel des Jahres 2026 nominees are properly interesting this year. Cozy Stickerville (Corey Konieczka / Unexpected Games) is up for the main prize — 800+ stickers, cooperative village building, very chill. The Kennerspiel nominees are where it gets fun: Moon Colony Bloodbath from Donald X. Vaccarino (Alea/Rio Grande) where your moon colony is doomed and you’re just scoring points before everything goes wrong, Boss Fighters QR which is cooperative monster-bashing with app support from Pegasus, and Rebirth from Reiner Knizia via Mighty Boards. Knizia getting a Kennerspiel nomination is always a good sign. Winners announced in July. (Full list via W. Eric Martin)

Shut Up & Sit Down have been busy. Their recent reviews of Regicide Legacy and Dirt & Dust are both worth watching. Regicide Legacy got a very warm reception — they called it “absolutely delicious,” which from SU&SD is a proper recommendation. If you played the original Regicide (and you should have, it’s brilliant), the Legacy version adds a full campaign. Their latest podcast (#296 – Potato Profiteer) covers a clutch of smaller games too. Good month for their content.

Origins Game Fair kicks off next Tuesday (June 17-21) in Columbus, Ohio. It’s always a good convention for seeing what’s actually landing on tables versus what’s just been announced. Expect a pile of new release previews and publisher announcements over the next week. If you follow any board game media at all, your feeds are about to get noisy. (Origins site)

Worth tracking

The BGG Hotness for June is showing some interesting movement. Rolling Deep from Bitewing Games is sitting at number one — it’s a solo dice adventure roguelike currently on Kickstarter, not releasing until 2027 but generating serious buzz. Lands of Evershade, Terraria: The Board Game, and Compania are all up there too. SETI continues to hover — CGE’s masterpiece passed 100,000 sales earlier this year and sits at #16 on BGG overall. CGE also have Drillers and a Critical Role Codenames coming in Q3.

On the crowdfunding side, the Cyberpunk Trading Card Game on Kickstarter is at a ludicrous 17,000%+ funded. Betrayal Bids (medieval auction game) and The Book of Unnumbered Worlds are both live and closing by end of June if either catches your eye.

For the hyped-up games crowd: Medico (Stefan Feld, pick-up-and-deliver), Meadowvale, and Eternal Sevens are all getting preview attention this month.

Ireland

Right, the big local news: Rogue Gaming opened its doors in The Liberties in Dublin on June 6th. It’s at 58 Francis Street, D08 YE39, and it’s a dedicated tabletop gaming space — trading cards, board games, RPGs. They’re already running Flesh and Blood tournaments and have weekly events lined up. Another FLGS opening in Dublin is always good news. Worth a visit if you’re up that way. (Instagram announcement)

Q-Con in Belfast is next weekend — June 20-21 at Queen’s University. It’s volunteer-run, non-profit, and always a good time. Board games, RPGs, card game tournaments, cosplay, the works. If you’ve never been, it’s worth the trip from anywhere on the island. Tickets via q-con.org.uk. Only about a week out so sort yourselves.

Further ahead, Irish Competition Galecon is in Limerick on June 27-28 — that one’s miniatures-focused (Mortem et Gloriam) so more for the wargaming crowd, but it’s local. Gaelcon 38 is confirmed for October 23-26 in Dublin at the Crowne Plaza Airport hotel. (iga.ie/gaelcon)

Board & Brewed in Dublin continues to do well as a board game café if you want somewhere to drop in and play. And BGIcon ran earlier this year via Board Games Ireland on Eventbrite — worth following them for future events. (Eventbrite)

For the Knavecon community

Q-Con is only eight days away and it’s a handy trip from Limerick. If you’ve never been, Belfast is always worth the visit and the gaming is solid. Worth organising a crew from the Knavecon regulars. Post in the Facebook group if you’re thinking of heading up.

One for the socials

“Moon Colony Bloodbath is nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres. A game where your moon colony is guaranteed to be destroyed and you’re just trying to squeeze out some points before the end. The jury praised its ‘surprising social criticism.’ Vaccarino is having a moment.”

Knavecon Daily Board Game Briefing – Tuesday, 9 June 2026

A decent enough Tuesday. Nothing earth-shattering dropped overnight, but there’s plenty ticking over from the last few days — reviewer content landing, the BGG Hotness doing its thing, and Origins next week focusing a few minds. Here’s what’s worth your attention.

Dice Tower dropped their Week in Review for June 8 and the two standout reviews are Nemesis: Retaliation and The Magic Shop. Nemesis: Retaliation is the third standalone game in the Nemesis series — marines vs aliens this time, with a reworked health system and new character mechanics. Camilla and Zee covered it and seemed broadly positive, though it sounds like it’s still very much a Nemesis game with all that entails: long, dramatic, occasionally infuriating. If you loved the originals you’ll love this; if you bounced off them, nothing here will change your mind. The Magic Shop got a separate review from Mike DiLisio. Chris Yi also put out a Rapid Fire Roundup for June covering ten more games including Critter Kitchen and Quagmire. Worth a watch if you want a quick sense of what’s landing on tables.

Shut Up & Sit Down have been busy post-UK Games Expo. Their most recent reviews cover Dirt & Dust — which Matt seemed genuinely surprised by — and Dark Pact, a deckbuilder that wants you to tear itself apart as fast as possible. Their Regicide Legacy review also went up recently and they called it “absolutely delicious.” If you played original Regicide at Knavecon (and plenty of you did), the Legacy version is getting universal praise. It’s hard, it’s clever, and the 12-mission campaign apparently justifies the format entirely. SU&SD also have a Beast review incoming, per their June preview post.

Steamforged Games confirmed redundancies and a crowdfunding cutback earlier this month, per BoardGameWire. Nearly 20 jobs lost across all departments. They’re pulling back from crowdfunding to focus on Warmachine, which is apparently booming for them. Dicebreaker reported that the cuts mostly hit newer hires. This follows a pattern we’ve seen across a few publishers this year — Steamforged hired aggressively, overextended on projects (the Dark Souls RPG launch was rough), and are now contracting. Worth watching how this affects their licensed board game pipeline.

BGG Hotness for June is an interesting spread. Per BGG’s own monthly roundup video, the current top 10 includes Cozy Stickerville at #10 (riding its Spiel des Jahres nomination), SETI at #9, and further up you’ll find Rolling Deep, Lands of Evershade, Terraria: The Board Game, and Moon Colony Bloodbath. That last one is a Kennerspiel nominee, and the BGG Hotness page right now also shows Compania, Feya’s Swamp, and a few 2026 releases gaining traction. The Spiel des Jahres effect is real — Cozy Stickerville has been climbing since its nomination was announced on May 19th.

Origins Game Fair is next week (June 17-21, Columbus, Ohio). If you follow any publishers or designers on social media, expect a wave of announcements and previews starting around Thursday. The exhibit hall opens on the 18th. It’s a smaller con than Gen Con but tends to be where mid-tier publishers reveal their autumn lineups. Worth keeping an eye on for Essen preview intel.

Games worth watching right now: Rebirth (Knizia, Kennerspiel nominee, reviewed well by SU&SD), Moon Colony Bloodbath (Vaccarino doing something genuinely weird — your colony is doomed, you’re just scoring points before the end), and SETI: Space Agencies expansion from CGE, which keeps that base game in the conversation. Rolling Deep is generating quiet buzz on BGG too — 2027 release but people are already talking about it.

On the Ireland front: Q-Con Belfast is on June 20-21, run by the Dragonslayers society at Queen’s University. That’s eleven days away. Board games, RPGs, card games, cosplay — the full spread. Tickets have reportedly been moving fast so don’t leave it too late. It’s a handy weekend trip from anywhere on the island. Beyond that, Board Games Ireland continue their Monday night meetup in Ryan’s Bar in Dublin (Meetup page), and the Friendly Dublin Hangouts group runs a Tuesday board game night at the Wild Duck in Temple Bar. Gaelcon 38 is locked in for October 23-26 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport. Rogue Gaming in Dublin was supposed to open spring 2026 as a new dedicated tabletop space — haven’t seen confirmation it’s actually open yet, so if anyone in Dublin has been, let us know. For the Knavecon community specifically: if you’re thinking about Q-Con, now’s the time to organise a crew. Belfast is always worth the trip and a few of us going together makes it more fun.

One for the socials: “Regicide Legacy is getting rave reviews from basically everyone — SU&SD called it ‘absolutely delicious.’ If you played the original with a standard deck of cards and thought ‘this is brilliant but I wish there was more,’ well, now there’s a 12-mission campaign and apparently it’s one of the best things released this year. Campaign card game perfection, they’re saying.”

Sunday Board Game Briefing – 7 June 2026

A decent weekend for news, mostly because we’re in that sweet spot between UK Games Expo wrapping up last week and Origins kicking off on the 17th. Yesterday was International Tabletop Day, which is always a nice excuse to get people to the table even if they don’t need one.

The big story still reverberating is UK Games Expo smashing past 51,000 attendees last weekend, more than doubling its pre-pandemic numbers. BoardGameWire reported the figures and OnTableTop put out a solid recap video with exhibitor and attendee reactions. The Broken Meeple podcast made a fair point that maybe it’s time to consolidate rather than keep growing — there’s a ceiling where “biggest ever” stops being a good thing and starts being an overcrowded hall. Games that got a lot of buzz on the floor included Symbiosis, a Plants vs Zombies prototype with a legacy element, and Gaudi with its rondel mechanic. Worth keeping an eye on what filters through to retail from the show.

BGG dropped their June Hotness video on Thursday (watch it here), and Corey Konieczka’s Cozy Stickerville is sitting at #10 — not bad for a game that’s also nominated for the Spiel des Jahres. Speaking of which, the SdJ nominees are still generating plenty of chat. The Kennerspiel lineup is genuinely interesting this year: Moon Colony Bloodbath from Donald X. Vaccarino (yes, the Dominion guy) is a shared deck-builder about a moon colony that’s doomed from the start, and the jury statement praised its social criticism. Rebirth from Knizia and Mighty Boards is the other one to watch. Winners announced in July. Full nominee list via ICv2.

On the crowdfunding front, Concordia Special Edition from Awaken Realms is live on Gamefound and getting plenty of attention, as you’d expect for one of the best Eurogames ever made getting the deluxe treatment. You may remember the drama a few months back when early images showed AI-generated art and BGG users went after it hard — Awaken Realms pledged no AI art in the final product. Also still live: Earthborne Trailblazer, a cooperative open-world adventure in the Earthborne Rangers universe, and Kemet: The Gates of Thonis from Kolossal Games adding six-player support and god miniatures. Big Boss Battle has a good roundup of what’s live this month.

Over at Shut Up & Sit Down, the current front-page review is Regicide Legacy, and they’re calling it “absolutely delicious.” If you liked the original Regicide — and loads of people did — this campaign version apparently delivers. Multiple reviewers have flagged it as a contender for game of the year. Read/watch it at SU&SD.

Things worth watching: Origins Game Fair runs June 17–21 in Columbus and should bring a wave of previews and announcements. Asmodee’s Zombicide: Dead Men Tales Gamefound campaign closed at over 2,000% funding ($4.1 million) — their first crowdfunding under the Asmodee banner after acquiring the IP from CMON. That’s a significant signal about where big publishers see crowdfunding going.

Ireland corner. The next big date on the Irish calendar is Q-Con Belfast on June 20–21 — it’s volunteer-run, based at Queen’s University, and covers board games, RPGs, card games, cosplay, the lot. Tickets are available now at q-con.org.uk. Later in the month there’s also the Irish Competition Galecon in Limerick on June 27–28, which is a miniatures wargaming event (Mortem et Gloriam). For Dublin folks, Board Games Ireland continues their Monday night meetups at Ryan’s Bar — free to attend, just buy a drink. And Gaelcon 38 in Dublin is confirmed for October 23–26 with Rob Brennan and Denis O’Connell directing. Beyond that, DagdaCon and Darecon (Naas Board Game Club) both have 2026 dates TBC. I didn’t find any new shop openings or major local news this week — if you know of anything, drop it in the Knavecon group.

For the Knavecon community: Q-Con is only two weeks away and it’s a handy trip from Limerick. If you’ve never been, it’s a good time and Belfast is always worth the visit. Worth organising a crew.

One for the socials: “Moon Colony Bloodbath is nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres. A game where your moon colony is guaranteed to be destroyed and you’re just trying to squeeze out some points before the end. The jury praised its ‘surprising social criticism.’ Vaccarino is having a moment.”

Thursday Board Game Briefing – 4 June 2026

Decent midweek for news. The dust is still settling from UK Games Expo, International Tabletop Day is Saturday, and there’s a good bit happening on the crowdfunding and review front. Let’s get into it.

The big story this week is still UK Games Expo smashing its attendance record. The 20th anniversary edition at the NEC pulled in 87,837 people across the weekend, with 51,196 unique ticket holders — more than double the pre-pandemic numbers. Geek Native reported that the infrastructure actually buckled a bit under the crowd — melted air conditioning, Wi-Fi blackouts, the works. There was also the inaugural Patrick Campbell Award presented at the closing ceremony. BoardGameWire has a good write-up with industry reaction. If you were there, you already know it was rammed. If you weren’t, the takeaway is that this hobby continues to grow at a rate that’s genuinely surprising.

Shut Up & Sit Down dropped their Regicide Legacy review and they’re calling it “absolutely delicious.” That’s high praise from them. For anyone who’s been playing the original Regicide — which is massively popular in the Knavecon crowd — the Legacy version turns it into an evolving campaign with new characters and unlockable packs. SUSD and the podcast (#289) both covered it recently and the buzz is very positive. Badgers From Mars have nailed this one by the sounds of it. Worth checking out the review.

The Dice Tower put out their latest Crowdsurfing episode yesterday (June 3rd), covering what’s currently live on Kickstarter, Gamefound, and Backerkit. The big crowdfunding campaigns running in June include the Kemet: The Gates of Thonis expansion on Gamefound from Kolossal Games — adding 6-player support, new maps, and a crystal pyramid mechanic that sounds properly mad — and the Concordia Special Edition from Awaken Realms, also on Gamefound. Worth noting on the Concordia front: Awaken Realms had to publicly commit to no AI art after a BGG review-bombing incident back in March. The campaign includes a new Mare Nostrum expansion designed by PD-Verlag. If you’re a Concordia fan, it’s worth a look, but go in with your eyes open on the Awaken Realms pricing and box size situation — the YouTube coverage from the Biggest Crowdfunding Board Games of June video flagged that even getting a rulebook out of some AR boxes is a production in itself. Big Boss Battle has a decent roundup of what’s live.

Stonemaier retail drops are coming mid-June. Both Finspan: Sharks & Reefs and the Euphoria Essential Edition hit the Stonemaier webstore in May but are expected in local retail around June 12th. The Finspan expansion adds sharks and coral reef habitats — Tom Vasel’s already reviewed it and seemed to enjoy it. The Euphoria Essential Edition combines the base game with the Ignorance Is Bliss expansion and revises the board layout. If you bounced off the original Euphoria years ago, this might be the version that clicks. Details on the Stonemaier site.

A quick reminder that International Tabletop Day is this Saturday, June 6th. Game shops and libraries everywhere are running events. If you’re in the Limerick area and fancy some gaming, it’s a good excuse to get a group together.

Games worth watching: The Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel nominees are out and worth tracking as we head toward the July announcements. Cozy Stickerville (Corey Konieczka), JinxO, and Morty Sorty Magic Shop are up for the SdJ. On the Kennerspiel side, it’s Boss Fighters QR, Moon Colony Bloodbath (Donald X. Vaccarino), and Rebirth (Reiner Knizia). Moon Colony Bloodbath is probably the most interesting name to appear on a Kennerspiel shortlist in living memory. Full nominee list from ICv2 and the Spiel des Jahres site. Also, Asmodee’s Zombicide: Dead Men Tales campaign closed at over 2,000% funded — $4.1 million for a pirate Zombicide. BoardGameWire covered it. Asmodee doing their own crowdfunding is a trend worth keeping an eye on.

For the Knavecon community: With Origins coming up June 17–21 and Dice Tower East in early July, we’re entering peak convention season. If anyone’s heading to either, shout in the Facebook group — always good to know what’s catching people’s eyes. Closer to home, International Tabletop Day on Saturday is the perfect excuse to get a few games in. And if you’ve played Regicide Legacy, I’d love to hear how your campaign is going.

One for sharing: “Moon Colony Bloodbath is nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres. Donald X. Vaccarino really woke up one day and said ‘what if Dominion, but on the moon, with blood.’ And the German jury said ‘yes, this is fine.’ What a time to be alive.”