152 The Devon Dice Podcast: The UKGE 2026 Preview show

Join Joel and Nick as they take you on a journey through what’s caught their eye and what’s new and exciting at SPIEL Essen 2026! First, they’ll take a look at the upcoming board gaming conventions before diving into the latest industry news, catching up on exciting new crowdfunding projects, and then getting stuck into the good old Top 10 list! That’s right! Joel and Nick reveal their Top 10 most anticipated board games heading to SPIEL Essen this year. What has piqued their interest, and which games are they most excited to get their hands on? So grab a cuppa, settle in, and join us for another episode of the Devon Dice Podcast! 🎲 Conventions Essen Spiel this week (22nd – 25th Oct)! The Ocean City Games Convention – 31st Oct – 1st Nov Gridcon 7 – 20th – 22nd November (obviously no tickets left) Full Board Gaming, Torbay – 29th Jan – 1st Feb 2027 Devon Gaming weekend @ the Fox & Hounds: 19th – 21st Feb 27 News The sequel to Through the Desert coming from Allplay: Through the Mountains, on Kickstarter October 27th.  Rebirth II announced from Mighty Boards, due on KS in February. Kicked off a lot of conversations on BGG about whether a spin-off/sequel game should be an expansion vs a whole new game. New expansion for Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth to be released in Feb: “Journeys”. Osprey Games lays off all board/card game staff, and cancels Essen booth. Crowdfunding Live now Bride of Spooktacular Excursions — a Galactic Cruise Game DECKO: Pistachio Lorenzo il Magnifico 10th Anniversary edition(s) Nemesis Legacy Satisfactory: The Board Game Essen 2026 Most Anticipated Light Speed: Arena – The Space Banana

Joel and Nick bring you the month’s board gaming news, Crowdfunding projects and what they have been playing. Conventions The Ocean City Games Convention – 31st Oct – 1st Nov Full Board Gaming, Torbay – 29th Jan – 1st Feb 2027 Devon Dice Con ???… News Mark Cooke, of AireCon fame, joins UKGE team as Ops Director The new Stonemaier game announced & soon to be released: Braided Skies Moon Colony Bloodbath expansion announced: Aliens from Space New Garphill Games available directly from them: Crest – Q2 2027 from their webstore Spirited expansions (African & Scandinavian) – available from their webstore this month (Oct) Nucleum Duel announced, coming in 2027 Too Many Bones sequel announced: Too Little Time Western Legends Stories (from KS last year) delivering soon Crowdfunding Live now Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit – already at £1.2million, almost 5,000 backers. Thessaloniki & Windmill Valley: Duel – the new Tascini “T” game, plus a 2-player-only spinoff of Windmill Valley Electrify Personal Demons Catvale Late Pledges Clank! 10th Anniversary Big Box Coming soon Zoo Tycoon – Dinosaur Digs New Garphill Games announced for future crowdfunding: Wallguards of the East Empire – KS in November

The gang is back! In Episode 155 of the Devon Dice Podcast, Joel is joined by Nick, Claire, and Honey for another catch-up from the world of board gaming. We chat about upcoming conventions and some sad convention news, including the end of AireCon in 2027, before diving into the latest board game news, from the Deutscher Spiele Preis to Wyrmspan Pocket, Timespan and yet another HEAT expansion. On the crowdfunding front, we take a look at Cola Wars and the huge Clank! 10th Anniversary Big Box. Finally, we round things off with what we’ve been playing. Plenty of games, plenty of opinions and the usual Devon Dice chaos! Conventions The Devon Gaming Weekend @ Fox & Hounds in Autumn has been cancelled The Ocean City Games Convention – 31st Oct – 1st Nov Devon Dice Con might have a date Torbay – Full Board Gaming – Jan 28th – Feb 1st AireCon 2027 will be its last News Deutscher Spiele Preis Asmodee purchases Welcome To… line Wyrmspan Pocket hinted at by Jamey Stegmeier Timespan Magical Athlete: Second Wind announced 5th HEAT expansion – Narrow Streets – announced, incl. 2 new maps (Canada & Australia) Crowdfunding Cola Wars  The Monolith Space King Clank! 10th Anniversary Big Box What we played Joel Toy Battle Lairs The Game Makers Nick Wingspan @ 7 players Wingspan Pocket Upland & Prairie Endeavor: Deep Sea   (for next show):

Joel and Nick return to the Mics for a quick podcast to bring you the latest news and crowdfunding from around the world. Also, they catch up on what they have been playing over the last month. News Spiel des Jahres Winners: JinxO, Rebirth After 10 years, Mechs vs Minions gets its first expansion – Bandle City CGE: Kingdom Come: Deliverance: The Boardgame CGE: Surprise Shipment expansion for Lost Ruins of Arnak Small Batch, a Distilled spin-off game from Paverson Games (coming ‘27) Dominant Species, new print from AllPlay, with Ian O’Toole artwork & graphic design. And yes, solo mode from Dávid Turczi & team (including Nick!) Crash Landed from AllPlay is designed by Robert Hovakimyan and Sen-Foong Lim with artwork by Jake Morrison, and puts players in the role of survivors after their ship crashes on a mysterious alien planet. Restoration Games blueprints panel was a little underwhelming; nothing much too exciting unless you like Unmatched, Study in Terror and collab with Slay the Spire Rain ends play at GenCon Tag Team: SNK Arcade Legends. A seventh character, Iori Yagami, is available as an exclusive pre-order promo. Clank! 10th anniversary big box edition coming to Kickstarter. Crowdfunding HOXFALL Space Junkers The Lord of the Rings: Ascension STAG The Guild: Ren Faire’d Children of Time: The Roleplaying Game What we played  Joel 

Episode 153 sees Joel, Nick and Sam looking back at a fantastic UK Games Expo 2026, sharing their highlights from the UK’s biggest board gaming event, from the Bring & Buy and press event to the games they demoed and discovered. They also discuss the Spiel des Jahres nominations, the latest crowdfunding campaigns, upcoming releases, and plenty of the new titles that caught their attention, including Space Junkers, Papyria, For the Gods, Clank! Catacombs, Finspan, and many more. Whether you made it to UKGE or not, join us for our roundup of one of the biggest weekends in the board gaming calendar. Quick News Spiel des Jahres nominees announced: KennerSdJ: Boss Fighters QR Rebirth Moon Colony Bloodbath SdJ: Dito! (JinxO) Cozy Stickerville Morty Sorty Magic Shop Whose Turn Is It Anyway – rebrands / relaunches as Just Play Podcast, hosted just by JP   Crowdfunders Concordia Special Edition Altera – the new game from IV Studios Shug – the UKGE party game winner for a whole 10-minutes 😀 ROKR Dinosaur Lab Pinball   Coming Soon Isle of Penguins Thunder Road: Ignition UK Games Expo Wrap-up Hotels Parking Interesting stands Nice art stalls Socks stand Pin collection Bring and Buy Press Event Attendance: 51,196 unique attendees, 87,837 turnstile attendees Events Nick: How was: Discworld: All That is Gold Is Not Butter  Games demoed/played Joel: Space Junkers Flip Pick Towers 

The gang are back to preview the UK Games Expo 2026 at NEC Birmingham, 29th to 31st May. News Clank! Master Thief Edition announced Bloomsbury want to offload Osprey Games Golden Geek Awards announced Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG + Unstoppable on Backerkit UKGE Judges Choice Awards announced UK Games Expo Quick overview of changes to the expo Only Nick has tickets for an event – though Sam just found out the original Treyguard from Knightmare the TV show is guesting Knightmare Live on Saturday night! We run down a very loose top ten games we’re excited for Joel Nick Sam 1 Star Trek: Space Hunt (Publishing Technology Solutions – 4-334) Ringyō (Paverson Games – 3A-418) DC Breakout: Arkham Asylum (Wizkids – Trade stands) 2 West Story: A Town Building Game (Smart Flamingo 2-T11) Kobayakawa (Oink Games – 2-336) First Giants (Space Cowboys – Asmodee/Trade stands) 3 Rattlesnake (Osprey Games – 3A-448) The Brain (Spiral Galaxy Games – 3-402) Night at the Zoo (Albi – 3-774) 4 Catvale (FUdice – 4-586) Ace of Spades (Devir/Kosmos – 2-636) Torchlit (Allplay – 2-604 / 2-708) 5 Space Junkers (Next Dimension Games – 3A-T59) For the Gods! (Mighty Boards – 3-634) 8 Dragons (Wonderbow Games – 3-T37) 6 Crits & Tricks / Thieves of Eldris / Tug of Roar (Inside Up Games – 4-302) Crits & Tricks (Inside Up Games – 4-302) Sanibel (Avalon Hill – 3-932) 7 Hachette stand /Tulikko (Hachette – 2-416, 2-316) King of Tokyo Godzilla (IELLO – 2-636) 12 Rivers (Good Games Publishing – 3-544) 8 Carcassonne Labyrinth (Ravensburger – 2-736) Flip Pick Towers (Osprey Games – 3A-448) Container (Allplay – 2-604 / 2-708) 9

Devon Dice Podcast 151 Joel and Nick are back with a very late episode, recorded at the end of March and only just released now. Yes, the news and crowdfunding sections are now wildly out of date, but somehow it is still entertaining. We hope you enjoy the episode, and stay tuned, as our UKGE preview show is coming up next. Conventions The Torquay Full Board Gaming weekend – available to book now for Jan 2027 Fox and Hound’s Boardgaming Weekend – last weekend, podcast to follow Baycon: 8th-12th April, in Kennford News Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit gets a Restoration Games restoration as The Lord of the Rings: The King’s Gambit. Asmodee acquires Japon Brand. Awaken Realms makes a statement about their use (or not) of AI in their games’ artwork. Smaller Games are the new ‘thing’ in gaming for 2026. Dicetower review of Roborover: 2077 Last Hope, but Grimcoven gets some great reviews Crowdfunding Brass: Pittsburgh Apex Carnivore Here to Slay DUNGEONS The Official Cyberpunk Trading Card Game Slay the Spire: Downfall Fight! Mortal Kombat Deckbuilding Game – based on Cyptozoic’s Cerebus deck-building engine Capitals of Tactoria What we played  Joel  Koi Festival Nick Western Legends Rummy

In Episode 150 of the Devon Dice Podcast, Joel is joined by Nick, Claire, Lewis, and Sam as they travel back 15 years to count down their Top 10 games of 2011. Along the way, they chat conventions, cover the latest board game news, highlight some exciting crowdfunding projects, and celebrate a decade of Clank!—all before diving into a nostalgia-packed list of 2011 classics. Conventions The Torquay Full Board Gaming weekend: Just happened this past weekend Fox and Hound’s Boardgaming Weekend: 20th-22nd March Baycon: 8th-12th April, in Kennford News As reported a few podcast episodes ago, W Eric Martin has now left BGG to run his own independent news site, Board Game Beat. No clue as to if anyone will take over BGG’s News blog. Sam Healey leaves the Dice Tower amidst a bit of controversy A new Forest Shuffle stand-alone game: Smoky Mountains, plus a Forest Shuffle Dartmoor expansion, Exmoor, announced. Two new King of Tokyo spinoff games announced: King of Tokyo Duel: Tokyo Bay, and King of Tokyo: Godzilla. Clank! 10 years old Labyrinth + Carcassonne crossover Crowdfunding The next Scott Almes’ game: Tiny Epic Invincible Pampero reprint + new expansion A triple KS of Trick Takers from Portland Game Collective Knizia’s next rebranding is for his older game, Spectaculum, as Gold Country Mythwind – new expansions Stellar Ventures – described as “cube rails in space”   2011 Joel  Nick  Sam  1 The Castles of Burgundy The Castles of Burgundy King of Tokyo 2 Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game Trajan

Episode 149: The Best of 2016 & 2021 In this episode of the Devon Dice Podcast, Joel is joined by Nick to dive into a nostalgic showdown of their best games of 2016 and 2021, comparing favourites, surprises, and all-time table hits from two great gaming years. The duo also cover upcoming conventions, including Torquay Gaming Weekend, AndyCon, and the Fox & Hounds Board Gaming Weekend. Along the way, they tackle the latest news—such as Cole Wehrle leaving Leder Games and the cancellation of the TAKE crowdfunder—plus a stack of crowdfunding highlights before counting down their Top 5 lists and honourable mentions from both 2016 and 2021. Upcoming conventions: Torquay gaming weekend (Full Board Gaming) at the end of January AndyCon Fox and Hound’s 20th-22nd March Boardgaming Weekend News: Cole Wehrle leaves Leder Games, causing the planned forthcoming TAKE crowdfunder to be scrapped. Crowdfunding: Colt Express: Complete Collection Mountain Goats Legacy + Enchanted Ivy Old King’s Crown: 2nd printing + new expansion Arboria: Reprint, + new Corruption & Rewild expansions Top 5 of 2016, top 5 of 2021 (games in orange are on other lists) Merchants Cove  Mechs vs. Minions  Red Rising  Ark Nova Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure Terraforming Mars Imperial Steam Descent: Le Great Western Trail Junk Art The Hunger Golem Vast: The Crystal Caverns Excavation Earth The Crew: Mission Deep Sea Crisis

In this episode of the Devon Dice Podcast, Joel is joined by Nick and Claire to round up the best games they’ve played in 2025—all new-to-them discoveries that have really hit the table this year. With Lewis struck down by the lurgy, Sam lost to board gaming winter blues, and Honey enjoying a well-earned nap, the trio also dive into the latest news, including the Fox & Hounds Board Gaming Weekend, a huge Stonemaier Games announcement dump, AllPlay reveals, Dice Tower crowdfunding, and some fresh GenCon breaking news. Then it’s time to celebrate the standout games that made 2025 a great year for gaming at Devon Dice HQ. Upcoming conventions: Torquay gaming weekend (Full Board Gaming) at the end of January AndyCon Fox and Hound’s 20th-22nd March Boardgaming Weekend News Fox and Hound’s 20th-22nd March Boardgaming Weekend Stonemeier’s big news dump: Wingspan expansion #4 is South & Central America and Caribbean, and includes smaller Hummingbird cards and a new card action. Coming Jan 21st. Euphoria new “revised edition”, which will include the expansion. New Scythe vs Expeditions 2p battling game, which can use factions from each of the other games. Viticulture new expansion. Next Finspan expansion due Q2. Namiji, in the new Stonemeier edition, due Q4 New unnamed Wingspan spinoff game which is meant to be a quick (20min) and smaller-table-hog version, more suitable for introducing to players new to boardgaming. AllPlay announces Mountain Goats Legacy, and Enchanted Ivy, solo only! Dice Tower Gamefound campaign Breaking news (just put on BGG), for GenCon releases: New sequel to The Crew: The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth New Deluxe edition of The Gang Best played games of 2025, new games to us.  The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth Harmonies Light Speed: Arena