Description provided by Board Stupid on YouTube:
Spiel Essen is fantastic for discovering the latest board games, but one of the best things about the world's biggest board game convention is getting to play games that won't be released for months... or even years!
In this episode of Board Stupid, Wayne and Matt look into the future of board gaming with 5 upcoming games that really stood out to us at SPIEL Essen 2026.
From completely unique card game production to time-travelling worker placement, sci-fi mafia games, a new take on Rebirth and an ambitious board game based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe, there's plenty to get excited about.
These are games we actually got to play at Essen, rather than simply games we've seen announced. Some are already heading towards crowdfunding, while others are still a little further away.
🎲 THE 5 GAMES WE LOOK AT:
🏟️ Oddball
A unique sporting card game from Le Scorpion Masqué, where every box contains a completely different collection of athletes. With millions of possible combinations of artwork, stats and powers, no two boxes are the same!
⏳ Mobius
Fantasia Games' upcoming time-travelling strategy game. Featuring asymmetric factions, worker placement, hand management and the ability to manipulate the past, this one has some fascinating ideas. We also discuss the game's development status and what to expect from its 2027 crowdfunding campaign.
🚀 Yena Succession War
A wonderfully bonkers sci-fi mafia game from Jelly Jelly Games, originally released in Japan. Combining action programming, tableau building, area control and some stunning anime-inspired artwork, this was a real surprise for us.
🏛️ Rebirth 2
Mighty Boards' follow-up to Rebirth takes the familiar tile-laying gameplay and adds new layers of interaction, regional scoring and more decisions. We discuss how it compares to the original, whether it's an expansion or standalone game, and who might want to pick it up.
🌌 Foundation
A fascinating strategy game based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe, coming from Creado. With asymmetric factions, deck building, engine building, area control and a fascinating crisis-scoring system, this was one of the games we were most excited to play before Essen... and we came away even more excited!
Which of these upcoming board games are YOU most excited about? Let us know in the comments!
And if you want more board game previews, reviews, interviews and coverage from Spiel Essen, make sure to subscribe to Board Stupid.
👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it
💬 Tell us which game you're most excited about
🔔 Subscribe for more board game content
You can also support Board Stupid through Patreon or YouTube Memberships. It helps us keep making the videos you love!
Join our Patreon to get access to perks including early access, exclusive industry content and Patron only Giveaways! http://patreon.com/boardstupid
You can find us on Instagram at instagram.com/boardstupiduk.
For all media or publisher inquiries, please email Wayne at ukboardstupid@gmail.com
6:01 Mobius
10:13 Yina Succession War
16:21 Rebirth 2
23:01 Foundation
32:58 Our 5 Most Exciting Games for 2027 & Beyond
