SPIEL Essen 2026 Opens Oct. 22 With All Eight Halls and a Record 81,200 Square Meters
The world's largest public board game fair, SPIEL Essen, runs Oct. 22-25 at Messe Essen in Germany, and for the first time it will use every hall on the grounds. Adding Hall 8 brings the show to a record 81,200 square meters, with room for up to 230,000 visitors. Organizers count 921 exhibitors from 53 countries and expect well over 1,500 new games.
New this year: the first TCG Awards for trading card games on Thursday evening, a Warhammer 40K laser tag arena run with Games Workshop, and the European Golden Demon miniature-painting finals on Sunday. Illustrator Peter Mohrbacher (Magic: The Gathering, Angelarium) is the show's official ambassador. Adult day tickets cost €25 and are sold online only.
Source: SPIEL Essen press release
German Games Prize 2026: Artengarten, Boss Fighters QR or Galactic Cruise?
The Deutscher Spiele Preis, a fan-voted award presented at SPIEL since 1990, names its winner Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the press conference in Essen's Grugahalle. The top three, listed only alphabetically until then, are Artengarten (Feuerland, Mathias Wigge), Boss Fighters QR (Pegasus Spiele, Michael Palm and Lukas Zach) and Galactic Cruise (PD-Verlag, T.K. King, Dennis Northcott and Koltin Thompson).
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (Z-Man/Asmodee, Matt Leacock) placed fourth, and Kennerspiel des Jahres winner Rebirth (Frosted Games, Reiner Knizia) placed sixth. The children's finalists are Mooki Island (Kosmos), Paleolino (Hans im Glück) and Toriki (Mirakulus).
Source: SPIEL Essen: Deutscher Spiele Preis
Avalon: The Riven Veil and Queen Alice Lead the Pre-Show Buzz
On BoardGameGeek's SPIEL Essen 26 preview, Shadowborne Games' Avalon: The Riven Veil led with 1,134 "thumbs" as of early September, followed by Combo Games' Queen Alice with 883. Avalon is a 2- to 4-player Arthurian area-control and exploration game; Shadowborne lists the miniatures core game at $115.
Queen Alice, from a Spanish publisher founded in 2024, is a mid-heavy engine builder inspired by Through the Looking-Glass, for 1 to 4 players ages 14 and up. It is listed at €69 in Hall 3, stand U210. Meeple Mountain's Justin Bell called it "one of the hottest games at the 2026 edition of SPIEL Essen."
Avalon: The Riven Veil: Pros
- Led BoardGameGeek's SPIEL preview with 1,134 thumbs in early September
- Arthurian area control and exploration for 2 to 4 players
Avalon: The Riven Veil: Cons
- $115 for the miniatures core game (Shadowborne)
- We found no Amazon US listing
Queen Alice: Pros
- Second on BoardGameGeek's preview list with 883 thumbs
- 1 to 4 players, so it can be played solo
Queen Alice: Cons
- A mid-heavy engine builder for ages 14 and up, not a family game
- Listed at €69 at the show. We found no U.S. price or Amazon US listing
Source: Backseat Gamer ; Shadowborne Games ; Meeple Mountain
CGE Brings Kingdom Come: Deliverance - The Board Game to Essen
Czech Games Edition will sell its official adaptation of Warhorse Studios' Kingdom Come: Deliverance video game at SPIEL, in English only. It is the first joint design by Vlaada Chvátil (Codenames) and Tomáš Holek, an open-world adventure with deck building set in 15th-century Bohemia, for 1 to 4 players ages 14 and up, listed at €149.99.
CGE's booths (Hall 3, 3V400, and Hall 7, 7E100) also feature Drillers, Codenames: Critical Role Adventures and new Codenames expansion packs. The Dice Tower's Tom Vasel will livestream from the Hall 7 booth.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - The Board Game: Pros
- First joint design by Vlaada Chvátil and Tomáš Holek
- 1 to 4 players, so it can be played solo
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - The Board Game: Cons
- Listed at €149.99, and sold in English only at SPIEL
- Ages 14 and up. We found no Amazon US listing
Source: CGE SPIEL 2026 Guide ; SpielList
Harmonies: Crescendo Expansion Arrives Oct. 23 for $19.99
Libellud's Harmonies: Crescendo releases Oct. 23 at $19.99 on Asmodee's U.S. store. It adds three modules for the hit tile-laying game: Whispers (corals, mushrooms, ores and flowers that combo with your animals), four-token-high Sanctuaries, and new player boards with fresh scoring. Other sequels drawing attention at the show include Cascadia: Alpine Lakes (Flatout Games), Endeavor: Deep Sea - Uncharted Waters (Burnt Island Games) and Faraway: Beyond the Veil (Catch Up Games).
Harmonies: Crescendo: Pros
- Three modules (Whispers, Sanctuaries, new player boards) that can be played alone or combined (Asmodee)
- $19.99
Harmonies: Crescendo: Cons
- It's an expansion: Asmodee says the Harmonies base game is required
- Releases Oct. 23. We found no Amazon US listing yet
Source: Asmodee USA ; Meeple Mountain
Oil Rock, Gaudí and Greenwood Headline the Strategy Lineup
Among strategy games, Cranio Creations' Oil Rock, designed by first-timer Marco Piola Caselli and developed with Simone Luciani, is on both Justin Bell's and Andrew Lynch's lists at Meeple Mountain. Wargamer's Mollie Russell flags Gaudí, a tile-placement game by Windmill Valley designer Dani Garcia, and Greenwood, a fantasy euro by Christos Giannakoulas and Manolis Zachariadis.
Source: Meeple Mountain ; Wargamer
Matt Leacock Demos a Rebooted Flickering Stars at PIKA
Pandemic designer Matt Leacock will demo an early, rebooted version of his flicking game Flickering Stars at the PIKA Games booth (3-Q315) every day of the show, and will sign games at Game Factory (6-B110) on Friday and Saturday. "We're expecting this game to roll out sometime in late 2027," Leacock wrote on Oct. 7.
Source: Leacock's Lab: October Update
As an Amazon Associate, TDmonthly earns from qualifying purchases.
For the full weekly market brief: The ToyDirectory Intelligence Report
Sources:
