Essen 2026: seven new games nobody's watching, and that's a mistake

About a month ago, I shared my very first picks for Essen, nine boxes spotted three months out. Since then, summer did exactly what I feared: the announcements poured in, and my shopping list doubled while I was looking the other way. So here's the second layer, the two-months-out one.

And this time, I'm taking a stance. While everyone stares at the big locomotives that haven't shown their hand yet, a handful of titles are slipping completely under the radar. Seven, to be exact. Fine, I'll admit it right away, one of them is already awaited by half the community. But nobody's talking about the other six, and I find that a little unfair. Might as well fix it now.

As always, this isn't the final list. I'll be back one month out with the consolidated selection, right before I pack my bags.

Forage, the one everyone's already waiting for (and rightly so)

Let me start with the exception, the one hiding from no one. When the team behind Cascadia, Calico and Point Saladreleases a new game, the roll-and-write world holds its breath, and Forage is no exception. Add Beth Sobel's name on the art, and you see why this one is already on every list.

The idea: a roll-and-write built on a tableau of cards that grows as the game goes. You write directly on the cards, and the scoring conditions shift as the board expands in front of you. Over 90 exploration, pantry and gift cards, 1 to 6 players, in 15 to 30 minutes. On paper, it's Flatout Games through and through: accessible, clever, beautifully made. The only catch for you and me is the lack of a French edition announced so far. Otherwise, if you love this family of games, you already know you're going to cave.

When French shows up, and a Belgian publisher joins in

Here's the heart of this batch, and the angle I care about this year: two titles landing in French.

The first is Fragments: Solara, the introductory box of a new line by Yohan Servais at IELLO. A narrative co-op of about 90 minutes, in the Solara desert, searching for a missing companion. The line's central gesture is manipulating puzzle pieces to move the story forward, a nice tactile idea you don't see often. IELLO on the catalogue means a French version is a given, and a 90-minute entry lets you test the world without committing to a multi-evening campaign. For me, it's the perfect way in.

The second one I care about even more, for a reason you'll get. Compile: Main 3 is the third standalone entry in Michael Yang's Compile series, a sharp card duel for one or two players, in 30 to 40 minutes, with a solo mode driven by an automaton. You pick three protocols out of twelve, build your deck, and play your cards on the command lines to hit the threshold of understanding before your opponent. Each card has three possible uses, which makes every choice tense. But what makes me flag it here is that the French version is handled by Geek Attitude Games, a Belgian publisher. Supporting a local player who takes the risk of localising a demanding series, that I do gladly. Consider this section a deliberate nudge.

Níjar, the euro that niche hunters will love

If you've read me for a while, you know I have a soft spot for small euros with a sharp theme. Níjar ticks every box. Designed by David Bernal at Perro Loko Games, it takes you to Almería in the 1920s, before tourism, into pottery, esparto and jarapas. You expand your workshop, extract clay, throw, fire, paint and sell. The twist I like: three rounds with a decreasing number of actions, seven then six then five, which tightens the game instead of stretching it. A documented craft theme, exactly the kind of niche where competition is thin and an article can find its place.

A quick throughline: the art is by Jorge Tabanera Redondo, a name that comes up three times in my scouting this year (he also designed Nakasendo and Camboya). Keep him in mind, we'll come back to him one month out. My only regret for Níjar, as so often on this list, is that no French edition is announced.

Two rising curiosities: Yotei and Drops of Evil

In the department of ideas that stand out, two titles caught my eye.

Yotei first, at Mighty Boards. A town builder at the foot of Mt Yotei, in the Niseko region on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. And its hook, honestly, I'd never seen anywhere else: the potato works as currency. You expand your land with limited manpower, win bids in potatoes, and grow your town. Designed by Huy Pham, 2 to 4 players, in 30 to 60 minutes. The thing to watch is the calendar: already funded on Kickstarter in the spring, it's slated for November 30, 2026, just after the show. So we're keeping our fingers crossed that an early batch makes it to the Mighty Boards stand at Essen. Worst case, you'll get to handle it there and leave wanting it. The idea is too good not to flag it now.

Drops of Evil next, at Horrible Guild, and it's the meatiest of the bunch. Witches competing to brew the worst poison there is. You send your Familiars to gather ingredients in the forest, combine them in the Alchilab, place it all to maximise toxicity, recruit shady Assistants and follow grim Recipes. Designed by Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva (the in-house duo) and illustrated by Weberson Santiago, it plays 2 to 4, in about an hour, ages 12 and up. It's clearly the most expert title in the salvo the Milan publisher is unpacking this summer, alongside Bag of Bugs, Rocking Raft and The Amazing Journey. Enough to watch their stand closely.

Ironwood: Steel & Spirit, or how to pull me back into a game I love

This one is a special case I fully own. Ironwood: Steel & Spirit is an expansion, not a new game. And the base game, I've already told you all about it: it's Ironwood, that asymmetric Mindclash Games duel between the Ironclad, settlers of the iron mountains, and the Woodwalkers, shadows of the forests, which I filed among my favourites for two players (and, yes, among the Belgian games). If you haven't read it, go take a look, it'll set the scene.

The Steel & Spirit expansion grafts two modules onto that base: railways, lanterns, and two new unit families, the Constructs and the Primals. In other words, more of a duel I already thought was excellent. If you loved the base box, you already know what to do. If not, start there, my article is waiting.

The family corner and small boxes

Not every new release deserves a full section, but a few deserve a quick look, especially if you play with family or with beginners.

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At Albi, Night at the Zoo has you bringing escaped zoo animals home before daybreak, laying tiles to open paths, each animal with its own way of moving (family, 30 minutes, ages 10 and up). Still in a small box, Bag of Bugs at Horrible Guild plays the real-time party and push-your-luck card, while Dino Museum, from Chile at Fractal Juegos, has you building the finest dinosaur collection through strategic digs. Terraces of Kanoa, at Unfriendly Games, bets on building terraces and revealing a landscape bit by bit. And for pure solo fans, Enchanted Ivy at Allplay hands you a magical inn to run on your own, in 10 to 20 minutes, a format apart but nicely done.

What I'm keeping for the home stretch

I'm not emptying my whole notebook today. Three titles still need a bit more substance before I weigh in: Fragments: Fungataï, the big campaign box of the Fragments line (seven hours of play, to discover once Solara has won me over), Blood Hunt and its influence game between families, and Kano, where painters compete to compose a Japanese scroll. See you one month out for those.

Verdict (still provisional, that's the point)

If you twist my arm, my three biggest wants from this batch are Forage (because I can't help myself), Fragments: Solara(for the French version and the narrative co-op) and Yotei, whose potato-as-currency idea won't leave me alone, even if its late-November release, after the show, means I'll have to sit tight. And I'm keeping two honest doubts in mind: Drops of Evil, an ambitious Expert game that will have to prove it holds up beyond the concept, and this whole list's habit of releasing without French (Forage and Níjar first), frustrating when you write for a French-speaking readership.

And I'll say it again, because it matters: these are seven boxes slipping under the radar, not seven certainties. The final picture is for one month out. Until then, tell me in the comments which of these seven made you raise an eyebrow, and whether one of them truly deserves to stop being ignored.

Missed my very first pick for this show? Read it here: Essen 2026: nine boxes already catching my eye (and it's only a starter).