Monday 20 July 2026 — Daily Briefing

Fairly quiet weekend in terms of breaking news, but there’s a good bit bubbling away under the surface with Gen Con now just ten days out. The pre-Gen Con announcement season is in full swing and a few things are worth your attention this Monday morning.

The big story still reverberating from the last week is the Dice Throne Nexus announcement. The teaser dropped on July 7th and confirms a cyberpunk-themed next chapter for Dice Throne, launching on Kickstarter this autumn. The trailer is short on detail — mostly vibes and the word “Brains” repeated — but the Reddit thread is buzzing with speculation about new characters and whether it’ll be compatible with existing seasons. If you’re a Dice Throne household (and a lot of Knavecon regulars are), this one’s worth keeping an eye on. Teaser on YouTube / Reddit discussion.

Chip Theory Games’ Wreck is now live on Gamefound and sitting at $315k after launching on July 14th. It’s a new standalone game set in the Wroth universe — naval combat this time — and the campaign also includes a fresh printing of Wroth itself. Goal was reached in 26 seconds, which tells you everything about Chip Theory’s audience. If you like neoprene chips and big tactical fights, this is exactly your sort of thing. Campaign runs for another 20 days. Gamefound page.

Eagle-Gryphon dropped the cover art for Vital Lacerda’s The Resort last week, with art by Ian O’Toole. It won’t hit Kickstarter until 2027 so this is purely a “look at this pretty thing” situation, but any new Lacerda gets people talking. The BGG thread has the usual mix of excitement and “my wife loves tropical themes but I know this will be too heavy for her.” Classic. Facebook post from Eagle-Gryphon.

Plaid Hat had a rough start to the month — they pulled The Monolith from Kickstarter after the campaign stagnated on day two despite hitting its (very low) $15k goal. They’ve admitted to already spending $35k on moulds alone, so the economics were off. They’re planning a relaunch after Gen Con with better pricing options. Meanwhile they’re pushing ahead with Gen Con plans including the Summoner Wars tournament, Ashes: Natural Magic shipping mid-July, and teasing a new game called Brumble. Board Game Wire coverage.

Garphill Games have announced two new Ancient Anthology expansions — Skara Brae: Headlands and Raiders of Scythia: Omens — heading to Kickstarter. No launch date yet but the Garphill faithful will want to keep an eye on their news page.

Worth watching: Bomb Busters is the most-played game on BGA this month with over 10,000 plays according to the BGG July roundup, overtaking Flip 7. On the BGG Hotness, Kemet: The Gates of Thonis and Nippon: Zaibatsu continue to trend. Gen Con watchlists on BGG are filling up fast — the usual suspects like Arcs, Slay the Spire, and Root are there, alongside 2026 releases like Kemet and Hot Streak. Best of BGG July.

Ireland round-up. A few things happening on the island worth flagging. The Belfast Anime & Gaming Con is this weekend, July 25-26, at the Crowne Plaza Belfast. Battle Inc Gaming will be there with board games to play and buy, with volunteers teaching games all weekend. It’s primarily an anime/cosplay event but the tabletop presence has been growing. Tickets on Eventbrite. In Dublin, there’s an Adult Board Games Social Night this Wednesday July 22nd at This Must Be The Place in Smithfield, 6:30-8:30pm, €8.48 entry — decent casual option if you’re in town. Details on VisitDublin. Also worth noting: Rogue Gaming opened its doors in the Liberties on Francis Street back in June and seems to be settling in nicely — they’re running regular Flesh and Blood and MTG events and stocking board games too. Good to see another FLGS in Dublin. And if you’re the “plan ahead” type, the Glendalough Gaming Retreat from Board & Brewed is September 18-20 in Co. Wicklow — a full weekend of tabletop gaming, tickets from €40 non-residential or €150 with accommodation. More than half the spots are already gone. Book here. Gaelcon 38 is locked in for October 23-26 at Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport as usual.

For Knavecon folks specifically: Gen Con is July 30 to August 2, and a lot of the games that’ll show up at future Knavecons will get their first outings there. If you see something at Gen Con that you think we should get into the Knavecon library, give us a shout. That’s what the community’s for.

One for social: “Chip Theory raised $315k in 26 seconds for Wreck. Meanwhile I still can’t get four people to commit to a game night. Different worlds.”

Busy week for industry news, even if the actual new-releases shelf was fairly quiet. The big stories were about who owns what and who’s leaving whom — consolidation season continues. Meanwhile Dice Tower East kicked off in Orlando, the BGG Hotness is showing some interesting movement, and there’s a notable crowdfunding launch landing next week that euro gamers should pay attention to.

Spirit Island is looking for a new home. R. Eric Reuss posted a detailed update on June 26th confirming he’s opted not to renew with Flat River Group. The licence will terminate and he’ll find a new publisher “within the next year or so.” He’s also planning a complete art overhaul — not just tweaks, entirely new takes on the Spirits — though the game will keep its name and its vibrant visual style. The Dahan-centric expansion is still his main design focus. This is one of the most important co-op games of the last decade and it’s been through a rough ride since Greater Than Games collapsed in 2025. Reuss is clearly being careful about who picks it up next. No word on suitors yet, but every mid-size publisher in the hobby will be circling. BoardGameWire covered it here.

Awaken Realms bought Thundergryph Games. This one dropped via BoardGameWire on June 24th and it’s AR’s first M&A move. Thundergryph make beautiful, lighter-to-medium euro games — Darwin’s Journey, Tang Garden — and Awaken Realms CEO Marcin Świerkot said the buy is specifically because TG’s portfolio is so different from AR’s usual dark-and-gritty stuff. Thundergryph will handle design while AR takes care of logistics and distribution. The first project under the new arrangement is Galileo’s Truth by Virginio Gigli and Flaminia Brasini (the designers behind Grand Austria Hotel and Lorenzo il Magnifico), launching on Gamefound on July 7th. That’s Monday. If you’re a euro gamer, that’s the crowdfunding launch of the week, possibly the month. Tabletop Sentinel has a good write-up.

Dice Tower East is happening right now. Running July 1–5 in Orlando. Not much in the way of major announcements filtering through yet — it’s more of a play-focused convention than a news-breaking one — but expect Tom and crew to surface new content over the weekend. dicetower.com/dice-tower-east if you want to follow along. Gen Con is still four weeks out (July 30–Aug 2) and that’s where the real announcement avalanche will land.

The Osprey Games situation continues to develop. Bloomsbury announced back in May that it’s selling off Osprey’s board and card game line to focus on books. Wargamer covered it well. Osprey will still publish wargames and RPGs, but Undaunted, Cryptid, and the rest of the board game catalogue are looking for a new owner. Osprey is currently running a July flash sale with up to 70% off — worth checking if there’s anything you’ve been eyeing. Still no word on who might buy the line.

On the BGG Hotness, Regicide Legacy continues to sit at #1 and deservedly so — SUSD loved it, the campaign is excellent, and the eternal mode after you finish is genuinely great. Yotei is at #2. Brass: Pittsburgh (the $9.1m Gamefound monster from Roxley) is at #3 despite not shipping until 2027. Nippon: Zaibatsu holds #4 — it’s one of the standout heavy euros of 2026. And the original Regicide is back at #5, presumably dragged up by Legacy hype. Worth noting that Goa — the 2004 classic — is randomly at #8, which usually means a reprint or new edition is in the works. Keep an eye on that.

On the retail side, July releases worth knowing about include Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game – Missions ($19.99, adds purple influence dice and new corporations), Scotland Yard (new edition), and Babylonia (Knizia reprint). None of these are world-shaking but the TM Dice Game expansion is solid value if you’re already into that system. ICv2 had the details.

Ireland corner. The Irish Gaming Market runs July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire — it’s a gaming and pop culture market with cosplay, vendors, and tabletop stuff. Tickets are live at irishgamingmarket.ie. That’s next weekend and it’s worth the trip if you’re anywhere near Dublin. CéilíCon is listed on Eventbrite for August 22nd at the Lucan Spa Hotel — looks like a newer board gaming event, details are thin but it’s on the radar. Gaelcon 38 in Dublin is confirmed for October 23–26 at the Crowne Plaza Airport, same venue as last year. iga.ie/gaelcon for tickets.

For the Knavecon community specifically: Galileo’s Truth launching Monday on Gamefound is the one to watch. Gigli and Brasini are an elite design partnership, the theme is cracking (scholars in 1610 risking their freedom to pursue scientific truth), and the AR/Thundergryph merger means it’ll actually get produced and delivered properly. If it plays anything like Darwin’s Journey this will be on tables at the next Knavecon.

One for the socials: “Spirit Island is looking for a new publisher, Osprey’s board game line is up for sale, and Awaken Realms just bought Thundergryph. The board game industry right now is basically a transfer deadline day that never ends. If your favourite game’s publisher is still the same one it had six months ago, count yourself lucky.”

Quiet enough Tuesday but there are a few things worth knowing about heading into July.

Splendor Duel: The Counterfeiters drops this Thursday. The first expansion for what’s become one of the best two-player games in the hobby lands on July 3rd. It adds Glassware tokens, Counterfeiter cards, and new Royal cards. Small box, $12.99, and it sounds like it tightens up decisions rather than bloating things. If you play Splendor Duel regularly — and a lot of us at Knavecon do — this is a day-one pickup. Asmodee store listing

Essen is fully sold out for exhibitors. SPIEL 2026 (October 22–25) has booked every square metre of exhibition space and opened a waiting list. They’ve named Peter Mohrbacher as this year’s ambassador, which is a good pick — his art is stunning. Tickets aren’t on sale yet but they’ll go live over the summer. Three of four days sold out last year, so don’t be slow if you’re planning a trip. spiel-essen.de

The Diana Jones Award finalists are out and it’s a strong list: Molly House (Cole Wehrle/Wehrlegig), Trench Crusade, Price Johnson from Cephalofair, Rob Wieland, and Mischief Toy Store in Minnesota. Molly House getting a nod here is interesting — it’s a genuinely unusual game and exactly the kind of thing this award tends to champion. Winner announced July 29th at Gen Con. dianajonesaward.org

Concordia Special Edition on Gamefound has crossed €2 million. The Awaken Realms deluxe treatment of Mac Gerdts’ classic launched June 9th and is doing very well. They had to publicly commit to no AI art after BGG review-bombing earlier this year, and they’ve named all 32 people on their art team. If you love Concordia and want the premium components, it’s there. If your existing copy works fine, it still works fine. Gamefound campaign — and the AI art controversy was covered well by BoardGameWire.

Asmodee’s numbers tell a story. Their annual revenue hit €1.68 billion but more than 72% of that is now distribution of other companies’ games. Their own board game publishing sales fell nearly 6% year-on-year, and Q1 2026 is down almost 10% against the same period last year. Asmodee’s CEO was asked directly whether they’re still a publisher or an infrastructure company. That’s a fair question. BoardGameWire report

Worth watching: Stonespine Architects: Invasion is running on Kickstarter with a base game reprint — ends July 8th. Aeon’s End: System Overload is live on Gamefound if you’re into cooperative deckbuilding. And Gen Con is exactly a month away (July 30 – August 2) so expect announcements to start ramping up.

Ireland corner. The Irish Gaming Market Summer Edition is on July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. It’s more video game and TCG focused than tabletop, but it’s a gaming event and it’s nearby-ish. Gaelcon 38 runs October 23–26 in Dublin — same venue as last year at Crowne Plaza Airport — and weekend supporter tickets are already on sale at €40. Over in Dublin, Board & Brewed in Dún Laoghaire and Board Dublin are both running regular game nights. Sadly Tabletop Cork remains closed. There’s a healthy Meetup scene in Dublin with groups like the Rush Board Game Meetup and weekly sessions in D8, Celbridge, and at the Marlin Hotel. Limerick’s quieter on the public events front right now — if you know of anything running locally, let us know and we’ll share it. Eventbrite Ireland gaming | Meetup tabletop Ireland

For the Knavecon community: Splendor Duel is one of the most-played games at our events. If The Counterfeiters is as good as the base game, we should have copies in the library for Knavecon 29. Worth grabbing one this weekend if you want to try it early.

One for the socials: “Asmodee made €1.68 billion last year but nearly three quarters of it was distributing other people’s games. Their own publishing arm is shrinking. At what point do we stop calling them a board game publisher?”

Knavecon Weekly — Friday 26 June 2026

A busy week in board games, this one. A major acquisition, a crowdfunding campaign that refuses to slow down, Origins Game Fair wrapped up, and the Dice Tower has been firing out reviews like they’re getting paid per video (which, fair enough, they are). Plenty to talk about.

Awaken Realms buys Thundergryph Games

The biggest industry story of the week. Awaken Realms announced on Tuesday that they’ve acquired Thundergryph Games — the Portuguese publisher behind Darwin’s Journey and Tang Garden. Thundergryph keeps its name and creative team, but Awaken Realms takes over production, logistics, and distribution. The first joint project is Galileo’s Truth by Virginio Gigli and Flaminia Brasini, hitting Gamefound on July 7th. BoardGameWire broke the story (link). This is Awaken Realms’ first M&A move, and given how aggressively they’ve been growing — Concordia Special Edition, the Castles of Burgundy deluxe, and now their own crowdfunding platform in Gamefound — it feels like the start of something bigger. Thundergryph has made some lovely games but has had a reputation for shaky fulfilment, so this might actually be good news for backers. Worth watching how it plays out.

Concordia Special Edition still climbing on Gamefound

Speaking of Awaken Realms, their Concordia Special Edition campaign on Gamefound is in its final days — four days left as of today — and it’s sitting at over €3.6 million raised. It hit its goal in literally one minute. The campaign wasn’t without controversy earlier in the year when it got review-bombed on BGG over AI art concerns, which Awaken Realms responded to by publicly listing all 24 artists, designers and modellers on the project and pledging “no AI art” (BoardGameWire). If you love Concordia and want the premium treatment, this is your last window. If you’re happy with your existing copy, honestly, it’s the same great game.

Origins Game Fair came and went

Origins 2026 ran June 17–21 in Columbus, Ohio. About 19,000 attendees and 400+ vendors, which is respectable but still a fraction of UK Games Expo’s monster numbers (more on that below). The Opinionated Gamers had a report from the floor (link) and a few YouTube channels covered demos and highlights. No single breakout announcement dominated, but the general vibe was positive. It’s a good convention that knows what it is — more intimate than Gen Con, more open gaming, less hype.

The Dice Tower’s week in review

Tom Vasel and the Dice Tower crew covered a pile of games this past week: Clans of Caledonia: Industria (the new expansion with the train map — getting solid marks), Tales of Arabian Nights 40th Anniversary (updated with 200+ new paragraphs and a solo mode, sitting at 8.1 on BGG), Brushwood, Fearless, and a bunch more. The Tales of Arabian Nights review is probably the most interesting if you have any nostalgia for that game — it’s the same beautiful mess it always was, just more of it. The Clans of Caledonia: Industria expansion is one for the Knavecon crowd — Scottish whisky theme, meaty euro, now with trains. What’s not to like? (Dice Tower Week in Review – June 22)

UK Games Expo’s numbers are staggering

This technically broke a few weeks back but the full picture is now clear: UKGE 2026 hit 87,837 total attendance with 51,196 unique ticket holders, making it the biggest event ever held at the NEC Birmingham. That’s the 20th anniversary show and it’s more than doubled its pre-pandemic record. It’s now firmly the third-largest tabletop convention in the world and closing in on Gen Con. Multiple reports noted the infrastructure struggled with the crowds — queues, congestion, the usual growing pains. But vendors reported record sales. Geek Native had a good write-up on the logistics issues (link). For anyone thinking about going next year, it’s June 4–6 2027.

On the BGG Hotness

The June BGG Hotness video from Board Game Hangover (link) has the usual suspects plus a few worth noting. Cozy Stickerville from Corey Konieczka (the Unexpected Games designer behind The Initiative) has been generating a lot of chat — it’s a co-op legacy game with 800+ stickers where you build a little village. Cute concept, about 10 hours total playtime, and it’s getting “game of the year contender” whispers from some corners. SETI continues to be parked in the hotness like it owns the space. And Fate of the Fellowship (the Lord of the Rings co-op from Fantasy Flight) seems permanently lodged there too.

Ireland

This weekend — literally tomorrow — the Irish Competition Galecon runs in Limerick on June 27–28. It’s a miniatures wargaming event focused on Mortem et Gloriam, so not board games strictly, but it’s on our doorstep so worth knowing about (BGG conventions list).

The bigger date coming up is IGM Summer Edition on July 11–12 at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire. It’s a gaming and pop culture market but Tabletop Ireland will be there running D&D for beginners, Warhammer 40K, Werewolf, and a big board game library. Tickets are on sale at irishgamingmarket.ie.

Dublin’s new game shop Rogue Gaming opened on Francis Street in the Liberties on June 6th. It’s a dedicated tabletop space — Magic, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Flesh and Blood, D&D, board games. They’re already running weekly Flesh and Blood armory events on Wednesday evenings. Good to see another FLGS in Dublin. (Rogue Gaming)

Board Games Ireland’s Monday night meetups at Ryan’s Bar in Dublin continue to tick over — 9,886 members on their Meetup group now, free to attend.

Further out, Gaelcon 38 is confirmed for October 23–26 at Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport with Rob Brennan directing. And for anyone keeping a calendar, Dublin Comic Con Summer Edition is August 8–9.

For the Knavecon community

Clans of Caledonia: Industria might be worth getting on the table at the next Knavecon. The base game is already a crowd favourite and the expansion adds new clans, a train-era map, and a proper solo Automa. Board Game Quest and Meeple Mountain both gave it positive reviews. If you loved the original, the expansion doesn’t reinvent it — it just gives you more reasons to play.

One for the socials

“Awaken Realms buying Thundergryph feels like watching someone who already owns three houses buy a fourth. But if it means Darwin’s Journey backers actually get their stuff on time, maybe that’s fine.”

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.”