Fall is for board games. As temperatures drop, the tabletop industry’s biggest season arrives, capped by SPIEL Essen in October, the world’s largest board game fair. Beyond that packed convention, this fall brings crowdfunded hits finally reaching retail, a Dune: Part Three tie-in, and options ranging from 20-minute family fun to all-day strategic marathons. These are the highlights of the season, ordered by estimated release date.
Avalon and the $2 Million Arthurian Quest
The Arthurian area control title Avalon: The Riven Veil launches the season in September, and it is now open for preorder at Shadowborne Games. The creators behind the epic dark fantasy game Oathsworn are back, having returned with a game that raised $2 million on Gamefound during its campaign.
Players assume command of distinct factions ranging from two to four in number, and set forth upon the island of Avalon to seek out relics and fantastical creatures. They gather strong companions, establish dwellings, pursue the sacred cup, and work toward completing prophecies that might grant them dominion over the blade Excalibur.
The art and miniature work is impressively detailed throughout. Those with deeper interest in the subject can splurge on upgraded components or a fey-focused expansion.
Greylune Offers a Fresh Spin on Dungeons & Dragons
Pandasaurus Games is taking preorders now for Greylune, which arrives Sept. 23. The game comes from designer William Attia, whose credits include Caylus and House of Cats. Players place workers in a border town setting where adventurers take on quests and brag about their accomplishments.
Across five years, players gather followers, gather gear such as swords and restoratives, build their physical power and magical skill, and relate tales of their own daring acts. The aim is to emerge as the most respected person in the settlement.
The game offers a novel twist on Dungeons & Dragons, and it comes with classic challenges that include battles against bandits, demons, and necromancers.
Dino Racer: Quick Fun for Everyone
Underdog Games will start selling Dino Racer in October, and Marceline Leiman’s goofy game for two to six players can be played in just 20 minutes. It is small enough to take along.
Before the race begins, players pick cards meant to help the dinosaurs they believe will win or place. Once that is settled, they turn cards to direct their creatures along the track. Points grow higher when a player manages to bring an underdog across the finish line instead.
A card can return a dinosaur to its previous checkpoint, or it can trade positions with another racer on the track. The race remains unpredictable all the way through, even as the finish line nears. Anyone can grasp the rules fast, and the brief length of each game lets players sit down for several matches one after another.
Prague Unseen Offers a Fantasy City
Prague Unseen releases in October, preorder at Capstone Games. Perfect for fans of Carnival Row, this game is set in a fantasy version of 19th-century Prague populated by golems, vodniki, and gargoyles.
Every group has its own goals, and as a ruler of the city, you must oversee them all in order to expand your sway. You do so by placing your people where they can mend bridges, strengthen ties with the guilds, bring in magic items, and learn what news is passing through.
Prague Unseen’s many faction minigame strategies, paired with its rich flavor, make it seem like a game worth playing again and again.
Wildscape Fights the Climate Crisis
The game Wildscape comes out in mid-October, and it can be ordered ahead of time through Karma Games. Sebastian Bleasdale’s creation tasks players with assisting naturalists in rebuilding animal habitats while battling against the climate crisis.
Four or fewer players take turns placing tiles that stand for different kinds of land, such as wetlands, savanna, and deserts, before returning native animals to those settings. Each decision alters how useful later moves will be, so players must weigh which creatures to emphasize in order to craft an ecosystem that works together.
Every participant has private goals and public objectives they strive for. What it takes to win shifts with each session.
Forest Shuffle Heads to the Smoky Mountains
Forest Shuffle – Smoky Mountains releases Oct. 22, preorder at Asmodee. It’s the third standalone game in Kosch’s Forest Shuffle series, taking players to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee.
As you build a riverside forest in this soothing game, you learn a little about the local plants and animals, adding creatures such as herons, bass, and otters, each suited to its own particular home.
The focus on water and new species alters the game’s systems. It introduces new ways to combine cards, letting you pick between options that give immediate benefits and others that build up your forest for the entire match.
Queen Alice Prepares a Coronation
Queen Alice also lands Oct. 22. After raising more than $350,000 on Gamefound, the chess-based game from David Heras and Hector Carrion will be available to purchase for the first time at Essen.
The task before you is to arrange a coronation feast for Alice so she may ascend to rule over Wonderland, thereby proving your worthiness to serve as her most trusted advisor. This demands convincing sundry chess pieces to lend their aid and acting with strategic foresight to unlock ever more potent actions with each turn that passes.
Queen Alice has the whimsical art you’d expect from a game based on Lewis Carroll’s strange world. But it requires paying serious attention to your opponents’ schemes.
The Lord of the Rings: Simultaneous Strategy
Nov. 6 is the release date for The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict, which is now available for preorder through Asmodee. While strategy games often require a considerable amount of time to play, Geoff Engelstein’s asymmetric board game eases that burden by letting all players make their moves simultaneously.
Two to four players control different armies fighting across Middle-earth.
Comparing the Heavyweights
Given the sheer number of choices available, deciding where to begin is not an easy task. Below is a brief rundown of how the most significant fall releases measure up against each other.
| Game | Release Date | Players | Playtime | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon: The Riven Veil | September | 2-4 | Not specified | Arthurian fantasy |
| Greylune | Sept. 23 | Not specified | Five rounds | Dungeons & Dragons-inspired |
| Dino Racer | October | 2-6 | 20 minutes | Goofy dinosaur racing |
| Prague Unseen | October | Not specified | Not specified | Fantasy 19th-century Prague |
| Wildscape | Mid-October | 1-4 | Not specified | Habitat restoration |
| Forest Shuffle – Smoky Mountains | Oct. 22 | Not specified | Not specified | Smoky Mountains nature |
| Queen Alice | Oct. 22 | Not specified | Not specified | Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland |
| The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict | Nov. 6 | 2-4 | Not specified | Middle-earth warfare |
This season’s lineup features a Dune: Part Three companion piece that is set to debut later this year.
A Season of Choice
This autumn brings an especially rich set of board games, running from the brief and whimsical Dino Racer to the grand scale of Avalon: The Riven Veil. Families will find Dino Racer’s 20-minute rounds and simple rules an easy choice. Serious hobbyists will note that Avalon and Queen Alice both drew significant support through crowdfunding, showing real demand for involved, themed play. SPIEL Essen stays the main event of the season, and most of these titles reach stores between September and early November, giving players room for either a lunch break or a full weekend session.
Source: polygon.com
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