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.”













































