The news articles of late in the hobby tell me that the so-called golden age of board gaming is coming to a close, however, in this reviewer’s mind at least, that could not be further from the truth.
With both kickstarter campaigns and new games galore from the back half of 2025 and upcoming in early 2026, my shelves look certain to remain full to bursting and the biggest problem remains finding the time to get through an increasingly large “to be played” list.
So as January comes to a close, I wanted to take a look at and highlight several games which I am expecting delivery of this year, or I am anxiously waiting to see the release dates of in 2026.
Most of these titles are likely to appear soon after launch on Zatu, and many have even been distributed to backers of crowdfund campaigns through Zatu aswell!
Root: Homeland Expansion – Due to backers in Spring 2026
Root, as many board gamers already know, is a deceptively deep asymmetric war game from the devious minds of Leder Games, featuring the stunning artwork of Kyle Ferrin, and the Homeland expansion (due to be delivered as the last project before Kyle and Designer Cole Wehrle’s departure from the studio is revealed) promises to add multiple further factions to the bustling woodland roster, two more maps of woodland warfare, and even a third playable action card deck available as part of the campaign.
This time, the spotlight is shone on the Bats of the Twilight Council and the Frogs of the Lilypad Diaspora. Both again feature amazing artwork and meeples, and I cannot wait to see how they shake up the established meta of the Woodland.
Arcs: Beyond the Reach Expansion and Take - Coming in 2026 to Kickstarter
Alongside the news that Leder Games studio members: Cole Wehrle, Kyle Ferrin and several other members of the studio are branching out on their own to form a new studio, came news that their other star of the Leder Games cosmos, the sci-fi Trick-Taking war gaming smash hit Arcs from 2024, was joining them. And not only that, but Arcs would receive a new expansion campaign to kickstarter later this year. As someone who is already all in the base and campaign game of Arcs, I cannot wait to see what awaits us all “beyond the reach”.
Alongside this, the new studio – Buried Giant Games – has also taken with them (pun intended) another idea in the heist game, Take, which had a sad cancellation from Leder in late 2025 (presumably with the impending announcement already in the works). As someone who grew up on the Ocean’s movies, The Italian Job and who keeps a copy of Caper: Europe on hand for any two-player occasion, I cannot wait to see another twist on the heist genre, this time with Kyle’s artwork to inspire.
Excalibur – Due to Deliver to Backers in Spring 2026
With the number one game on BGG locked up going into 2025 in Brass: Birmingham, you might have forgiven Roxley Games for coming into 2026 resting on their laurels a little, however nothing could be further from their intentions.
This year comes with not one, but two exciting projects I wanted to highlight from this publisher, and I want to start not with the most obvious (I’ll get there soon enough!). Instead I want to showcase Excalibur.
A 2-6 players, chip drafting and revealing game, Excalibur is a deceptively simple title where players have one goal: Find the Sword to win!
It won’t be easy, with chips each containing powers designed to make finding and more importantly keeping the swords not so simple as it seems. Yes, there is more than one sword, but only one will let you rule!
The artwork is stunning, the small box form factor and wider player count will suit my table to the ground and I’ll be honest, a seemingly quick runtime and teach make me think this will become a staple gateway game for me to lure my friends with for years to come.
Brass: Pittsburgh – Launching on Gamefound in Feb 2026.
And now for the elephant in the room, Brass. The second version (Birmingham) is still number 1 on BGG, but Roxley are not yet done showing us the industrial revolutions, and this time we are going international.
New resources, Industries and several other new additions promise even more strategic options for the Brass system as we explore the 19th century USA.
As someone who fell in love with Brass with Birmingham (partly with being a local who’s hometown is on the board!), I am starting to wonder if all of the new bells and whistles will be as fun for me, however this is absolutely a day one backing to find out, and as someone who generally plays at two players most often, the promise of a two player specific board this time is a definite selling point as well.
Will the current number one be dethroned by it’s own new sibling, there’s only one way to find out!
Eerie Idol Games – Expansion for The Old Kings Crown – Coming March 3rd to Gamefound
A big part of my 2025 was getting my hands on The Old Kings Crown, a 2-4 player asymmetric card game battler. Again, I was lured in by the amazing art design, but I stayed for what has become a juggernaut in my collection. Blind bidding, power stealing fun await, and this March we will see the unveiling of two more factions to add into the mix, and a rerelease of the original “Wild Kingdom” expansion, which as someone who found this title later in it’s original run, I missed out on. This time around, I will be ready to snap up the enhanced Kingdom Card deck, and the new expansion, perhaps you should join me?
IV Studios – Another Year, another steal my heart social deception masterclass
It wouldn’t be one of my blogs without a small (or not so small) plug to the amazing work of this studio, which has yet to fail in any of it’s titles in my opinion. And 2026 seems to be no different.
This year fans will receive two brand new full titles in Realm of Reckoning (due to be delivered in Spring 2026), and Honor’s End (Delivery expected in the Autumn). Two very different titles; one a competitive blind bidding title where even the means of scoring is shrouded in mystery, the other a cooperative deck building boss battler which I hope could be another gateway hint for friends into the TTRPG space.
On top of this the just announced expansion for Fractured Sky – “Awakening” will be launching on kickstarter later this month.
Honorable Mentions and Headlines
A few more to highlight from me include another set of maps and cards come to join the racing field as Heat provides us another two expansions. Rocky Road is another of what is becoming a standard for the title in terms of expansions (however this will be the first since the original box could be classed as “full” with no more car spaces left in the base storage solution). A further expansion is also due later this year providing a focus on their legends AI system, adding bigger race possibilities for solo or smaller play groups.
Viticulture is just about to deliver a new board expansion after several years with the “Bordeaux” expansion; this time promising a card market, revised start up rules and “expert” actions to purchase as unique powers for your growing winery.
My small box surprise of 2025 has just delivered a new expansion in Agent Avenue: Division M. I cannot wait to start playing with the additional black-market cards and a further new win condition, mixing up the variety of what is becoming an instant classic in my home.
Auction game Art Society will release it’s first deluxe edition and expansion content with the “Friends in High Places” collection due to deliver later this year. With this being one of the games I used to showcase what modern games can be like to my partner’s parents in recent times, I cannot wait to revisit it with them when this rolls into town.
And finally, one of my few bogey games adds it’s next expansion into it’s own murky waters as Deep Regrets becomes Even Deeper Regrets. I cannot seem to win this game at all but despite this, Tettix games and the team have entranced me time and time again with their devilishly dark take on fishing, and I have no doubt that this expansion will be hitting my table often when it shortly arrives in backer’s hands.
So, is the golden age over? I’m definitely not sold. UKGE will be here before we know it in May and my list of backed or pre-ordered titles is already looking at the fullest it has ever been. I cannot wait to see what new ideas the year brings to the gaming table, and I am certain there are reviews for several of the above and more coming soon to my blog profile here at Zatu.
