Gen Con 2026 – Thames & Kosmos

Posted on August 11, 2026 by Matt J Carlson

The blue tables of Thames & Kosmos were busy with folks clamoring for more of what they like. The newest title in The Crew line, Journey to the Ends of the Earth and the deluxe version of The Gang were sold out every day. In addition to more in the Exit series (family, kids, holiday calendar, and regular versions) there was the new hot-potato-ish word game, Oh My Word and the co-op tower-rotating Temple Twist. Rounding out my booth visit was a mention of the “spicy-ish” party game Realtalk: Fourth Wing and the not-spicy flower-growing game, Wildblooms.

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Dale Yu: Review of Omens

Posted on August 11, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

Omens

  • Designer: Maxime Rambourg
  • Publisher: Spiral Editions
  • Players: 4-6
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

You’ve found a mysterious box filled with strange cards. As you try to decipher their meaning, you soon realize that you won’t be able to do it without help. Surrounded by your friends, you begin to unravel their secret: played the right way, the cards eventually disappear. But they always come back, safely tucked away in the box, for the next game. In Omens, you team up to get rid of your cards until you have only one left in your hand. Each of your cards interacts with the cards played by your partner, as well as those of your opponents, so you need to play them at the right moment! The team that sheds its cards first wins.

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Kickstarter Preview of 2 Button Shy games – The Cursed Cat, Forest Rivals

Posted on August 10, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

So, we don’t do a lot of Kickstarter Previews, but I was approached by Button Shy to look at their newest offerings which will go live in August 2026.  

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/239309591/button-shy-micro-games-summer-2026-collection

I’ll admit that I’m on a bit of a Button Shy high right now, having spent much of this year playing through a huge collection that I bought second-hand back in January.  The company is well known for its tiny format – eighteen card games that come in a nice little pocket sized wallet.  As of 2026, the company announced that they will now start packaging their games in boxes (to help fit in to retail norms), but that doesn’t change the amazing amount of innovation and ingenuity needed to cram such good games into this small format.

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Gen Con 2026 – Luma Imports

Posted on August 10, 2026 by Matt J Carlson

Hot on the heels of Dale Yu’s review of Not Alone: Remastered Edition from Geek Attitude Games, you get to see it again here as I was given a rundown on the new title by the folks at Luma Imports. We also discussed the new release of the popular two player card game, Compile: Main 3 by Synapses Games. Of course, I also had to stop to look at the great art in Postcards it seemed to manage to perfectly fit the cycling around France vibe.

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Dale Yu: Review of Odd Logic

Posted on August 9, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

Odd Logic

  • Designer: not credited
  • Publisher: Mattel
  • Players: 3-6
  • Age: 12+
  • Time: 15 minutes
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4hteE1l
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Pair 4 out of 5 picture cards and write down the reasoning as well as the Odd One Out. Match other players’ choices and logic to win points. The Odd Seat player that round can earn even more points with each match! Multiple picture cards with thousands of combinations means every game feels fresh! 

 

During this review, I’ll post two example rounds of cards and you can play the game with me.

 

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Gen Con 2026 – Thunderworks Games

Posted on August 9, 2026 by Matt J Carlson

Gen Con 2026 – Thunderworks Games

Gen Con 2026 is over (as well as the fall school kick-off) and I’ve come back up for air, just in time to ramp up the annual Gen Con run-down here at OpinionatedGamers. Will I out-do last year’s lineup as seen in last year’s One Post to Rule Them All? Only time will tell, click on your seatbelt and join us for a wild ride through the halls and rooms of Gen Con 2026.

First up, Thunderworks Games, a wonderful company to start my 2026 adventure. My Thursday meeting covered: Fliptoons: Season 2, a sequel to the original card-flipping slot-machine-esque card game; Questline, a fantasy-themed take on the classic Spoons card game; and a pair of expansions for the excellent Tenpenny Parks amusement park building game. There’s the holiday themed Winter Lights and Spooky Nights and the more game-mechanic oriented Innovation.

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