By: Blaze Aldrich | January 6th, 2026

(Gamefound, 2025)

2026 is kicking off with an incredible lineup of board games! From heavy euros to fast-paced skirmishes and cozy puzzles! If you are anything like me... a board game nerd, then you want to know what are some amazing board games coming out this year. After looking at this list, you may get overwhelmed with excitement and your wallet just overwhelmed by all the games you are going to buy from this blog. Sorry, not sorry haha. Anyways here is 15 incredible games coming out this year.

1. Tend (January 2026)   

Cozy alien homesteading flip-and-write (scratch/roll/stamp/tick!): simultaneously tend dice-driven crops/animals, explore woods/mines/fish, fulfill shifting objectives, and cargo-ship goods to Zenith HQ. S.H.I.N.E. system ensures no downtime: 1-6 players, 60-90 min.

2. Endeavor: Deep Sea Reprint (January 2026)

Lead your research institute into the modern ocean frontier: recruit field experts to explore dive sites, research phenomena, publish ecological papers, and launch conservation efforts in this streamlined, scenario-driven engine-builder. Sequel to Endeavor: Age of Sail with solo/co-op/competitive modes: 1-4 players, 60-120 min.

3. Speakeasy (January 2026)

Dive into the Roaring Twenties during Prohibition as a mobster under Lucky Luciano's control in Manhattan. This Vital Lacerda worker-placement and card-management epic lets you build speakeasies, smuggle booze across districts, hire expendable goons for muscle, dodge cops, and ignite mob wars through area control and hand management. Rack up infamy for bonuses while outsmarting rivals, pure strategic intrigue for 1-4 players, 50-180 min.

4. Formaggio (January 2026)  

Travel to 1900s Italy as artisanal cheesemakers in this standalone sequel to Fromage. Simultaneous worker placement on a rotating board delivers tense efficiency puzzles, with new mini-games for scoring: pair cheeses with wines at the Vigneto, sell along Venetian canals, distribute across Italian regions, or deposit in the Banca. Mix boards and tiles with the original for endless replay, condensed Euro strategy in 40 min for 1-4 players.

5. The Two Towers Trick Taking Game (January 2026)

Middle-earth's saga continues in narrative co-op trick-taking! Play heroes and villains across 17 chapters of The Two Towers, leveraging White/Black Tower cards and new faces like Sméagol, Treebeard, and Éowyn. Dummy hands enable solo/2p; chain tricks to fulfill goals. Standalone sequel to Fellowship, 20 min for 1-4 players.

6. Apex Legends: The Board Game (January 2026)

The battle royale explodes onto the table! Assemble squads of iconic Legends with game-changing abilities for tactical team-vs-team skirmishes on modular Kings Canyon maps that shrink over time. Scavenge finite loot, manage ammo and sightlines, and pull off clutch plays in 60-90 min firefights, includes solo/co-op modes. 2-6 players.

7. Light Speed Arena (February 2026)   

Interstellar arena battles go real-time! Frantically place and orient spaceship tiles to aim lasers at foes, asteroids for minerals, and sponsors for glory. Snap a photo, the companion app animates the chaos, resolving shots in firing order with damage colors. Pure reflex shooter fun in 5-15 min for 1-6 players.

8. Grimcoven (February 2026)   

Victorian hunters, powered by risky "Lament," battle griefbound horrors in modular arenas. Dice allocation fuels movement, combos, and growth in this roguelike boss battler, overdo Lament and become the beast! Tactical co-op depth for 1-4 players, 90-270 min.

9. Heat: Rocky Roads (February 2026) 

Pedal-to-metal expansion: conquer double-sided tracks with South Africa's treacherous gravel (manage skids!) and Germany's chicaned straights. New car miniature, gear cards, and 1966 season integrate seamlessly: 1-7 players, 60-120 min.

10. Deckers (March 2026)

Cyberpunk hackers unite! In this Renegade reboot, co-op deckbuilding sends 1-4 Deckers (10 archetypes) to breach 7 unique supermassive computers (SMCs). Synergize command cards and abilities to upload programs, fight sparks/guardians, and fulfill dynamic objectives before time runs out, high replay in 60-90 min.

11. Brass: Pittsburgh (March 2026)   

Steel City standalone: channel Carnegie/Vanderbilt in Gilded Age boom-building rails, mills, refineries. New mechanics like decentralized markets and persistent heavy locomotives elevate the engine-building masterpiece: 2-4 players.

12. Nemesis: Retaliation (Q1 2026 Retail)   

Nemesis trilogy finale: marines with advanced gear assault alien nests in semi-coop horror. Custom squads, reworked mechanics, traitor tension: standalone survival for 1-5 players, 120-180 min.

13. World Order (Q2 2026) 

  Lead a superpower (USA, China, Russia, EU) in modern geopolitics: deckbuild for economic/diplomatic/military influence across 7 regions. Form alliances, impose dependencies, vote in crises, tense area control in 120-180 min for 2-4 players.

14. The Game Maker (Q3 2026)   

Meta love letter to the hobby: simultaneously forklift resources in your warehouse to manufacture/market 300+ real licensed games (Brass, Wingspan, Gloomhaven!). Build the ultimate portfolio: 1-6 players.

15. Cascadia: Alpine Lakes (Q3 2026)   

3D evolution: layer double-hex tiles for elevation across alpine habitats, surround lakes, and pattern wildlife (bears, elk, etc.) per variable cards. Standalone puzzle paradise: 1-4 players, 30-45 min.

Which one are you grabbing first? Let us know in the comments! Happy Gaming!