Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Friday, 25 September 2026

Knavecon Boardgame Briefing — Friday, 25 September 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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