New Board Games 2026: Releases We’re Tracking
New Board Games 2026: Releases We’re Tracking
This is a living release tracker, not a definitive “best of 2026” ranking. We separate confirmed publisher facts from editorial reasons a game may be worth deeper coverage, and we add full BoardGame Archive hubs only after the rules and edition scope are researched.
2026 releases on our research list
| Game | Confirmed 2026 status | Why we are tracking it |
|---|---|---|
| Drillers | CGE lists Q3 2026; English copies launched around Gen Con 2026. | 1–4 player deck building/resource management with solo support. |
| Sanibel | Released January 16, 2026. | Elizabeth Hargrave tile-placement family game about collecting and arranging shells. |
| Hanami | 2026 release; Keymaster reimagining of Reiner Knizia’s Samurai. | Area-majority classic with a new theme, second map and additional action tiles. |
| Brass: Pittsburgh | Roxley has a 2026 rulebook and active late pledge/production updates. | New Brass sequel focused on the American Gilded Age industrial network. |
| Galileo’s Truth | Active Thundergryph project announced for its current release cycle. | Heavy euro about Galileo-era astronomy, worker placement, deck building and resource management. |
| Codenames: Critical Role Adventures | CGE launched the English edition at Gen Con 2026, with other languages following. | Mission-based Codenames variant tied to Critical Role. |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance – The Board Game | CGE lists it as a new/upcoming 2026 base game for SPIEL. | Adventure/euro hybrid from Tomáš Holek and Vlaada Chvátil. |
1. Drillers
Czech Games Edition lists Drillers as a 1–4 player strategy game, playable solo, with a Q3 2026 release and a 30-minutes-per-player estimate. Its core loop combines multi-use cards, deck upgrading, resource management and progressively deeper mining.
Publisher: Drillers. If the game gets a BoardGame Archive hub, it should connect naturally to our deck-building and strategy recommendation clusters.
2. Sanibel
Sanibel, designed by Elizabeth Hargrave, released January 16, 2026. Players move along a beach, collect shell tiles and arrange them on personal mats for scoring. The designer describes it as combining a Tokaido-style movement idea with a tile-placement puzzle.
Designer page: Sanibel. Existing readers who like this style can also explore Cascadia and Wingspan.
3. Hanami
Hanami is a 2026 reimagining of Reiner Knizia’s Samurai. Current product information describes 2–4 players, roughly 30–60 minutes, a classic Japan map and a Tokyo setup with additional abilities and tiles.
Current Hanami product listing.
4. Brass: Pittsburgh
Roxley describes Brass: Pittsburgh as a new sequel built on the Brass system, set in America’s Gilded Age and featuring railways, pipelines, steel mills and oil refineries. Roxley lists 2–4 players and 60–120 minutes, and hosts a rulebook dated June 1, 2026.
Publisher: Brass: Pittsburgh · Read our Brass: Birmingham guide.
5. Galileo’s Truth
Thundergryph is promoting Galileo’s Truth as a heavier euro set around Galileo’s astronomical work and the pressure of accepted doctrine. This remains a research target until we have stable retail/rule information sufficient for a full hub.
Thundergryph current project information.
6. Codenames: Critical Role Adventures
CGE’s June release update placed the English launch at Gen Con 2026, with several additional languages scheduled for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027. The publisher describes it as a mission-based Codenames experience set in Critical Role’s Exandria.
CGE release timeline · Read our Codenames guide.
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance – The Board Game
CGE currently lists this as an upcoming new base game and describes it as an adventure game with euro elements set in fifteenth-century Bohemia. We are tracking it for a full hub once the edition and rules are stable enough to document.
What “tracking” means here
Inclusion does not mean BoardGame Archive has ranked or fully reviewed the title. A game enters this page when there is credible current release information and a reason it may matter to readers. A full game hub requires separate rules/edition research.
Last updated
September 27, 2026. Release dates and fulfillment schedules can move, so publisher pages take precedence over older announcements.
2026 sources and further reading
- Czech Games Edition — Drillers
- Elizabeth Hargrave — Sanibel
- Roxley — Brass: Pittsburgh
- Thundergryph — Galileo’s Truth project information
For broader external discovery, current 2026 roundups and convention preview lists are also available from specialist outlets and BoardGameGeek; we use them for discovery but verify release facts against publishers where possible.