ALBI GAME DAY KEYNOTE 2026 - Svátek pro všechny hráče plný oznámení, novinek a zábavy

Keynote Overview

The ALBI Game Day Keynote previews a wide range of upcoming board games, expansions, and event activities. The event is presented as a hands-on festival where visitors can try new releases, join tournaments, and take part in family activities. The video also includes a detailed introduction to Grimcoven.

Announcements and Gameplay Highlights

• Murder for Dinner — Two murder-mystery party games put players in character rather than simply asking them to solve a case. One is set in a New York Italian restaurant, and the other in a California winery. Designed for an evening with friends, one supports exactly eight players and the other six. Preorders are open, with a December 10 release announced.
• Crime Cases — Deduction games for one or more players aged 14 and up, featuring cases involving a pair of suits, a death on the Eiffel Tower, and a circus disappearance. Players sort through evidence together. A January 12 release was announced.
• Mřížovka — A two-player or two-team word game. Players form words from letter dice, but moving dice can disrupt an opponent’s plans. Target word lengths depend on the difficulty, and bonus actions can change dice faces. The game rewards planning. A January 19 release was announced.
• Pekador and Banánek — Quick card games for two to five players aged seven and up, playable in about ten minutes. In Pekador, players build a hot dog by collecting matching cards and deciding whether to keep waiting for more. Banánek is a push-your-luck game about making the longest possible banana while using cards to disrupt opponents. Both were announced for January 21.
• Ubongo Flex — A more challenging entry in the Ubongo series. Players must solve the assignment itself before fitting the pieces, with tasks at different difficulty levels. It supports one to four players and was announced for February 11.
• Kuličkodrom (Whirly Derby) — A marble-racing game played across eight races. Players secretly choose how many of their marbles to enter, then race for trophies; higher finishing positions get first choice of the prize cards. The last-place marble receives a slowness bonus and returns to its pad, while other raced marbles are removed from play. Reload tokens can bring back lost marbles, and the advanced rules add tactical trophy bonuses and a Thunderball catch-up option. The player with the most points after eight races wins.
• Unmatched Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo join the series. In addition to player-versus-player battles, the set supports cooperative play against game-controlled foes such as the Ripper or Krang. A Czech release is planned for the following year.
• Scythe vs. Expeditions: Meloch’s Duel — A compact game for one or two players that combines the two titles on one board. One player uses Scythe’s area control, action selection, and engine-building systems, while the other plays using Expeditions’ deck-building and movement rules. It is also playable solo, and its components can be used with the original games. The keynote says it was available immediately.
• Before We Arrive — A family game in which players control a robot preparing an inhospitable planet for humanity. Players collect and place terraforming pieces, then navigate around and activate them using tracks or jet engines. More details were promised for the May Made by Albi Showcase.
• Mini Rogue: The Council — A standalone expansion adding mechanics, stories, and cards, and raising the player count to four. It offers a competitive mode in which up to three players face a dungeon master, as well as a cooperative two-player campaign.
• Mini Rogue sequel — A standalone game that can be combined with the original. It expands the player options to cooperative play for up to three or competitive play for up to four, while keeping the series’ randomly generated underground exploration, traps, treasure, and enemies.
• Grimcoven — A large, narrative boss-battler for one to five players, set in a dark Victorian world. Hunters fight a major creature and its minions while managing lamentation, a power source that can strengthen them but also increase corruption. Players choose a scenario and hunters with distinct roles, then use dice to select actions rather than determine damage randomly. They must manage positioning, statuses, and dice refreshes, defeat enemies, and attack the boss’s cards. Surviving the final attack can create a chance to defeat the creature, though the fight may continue at a reduced level. The keynote recommends choosing hunters whose abilities complement one another and planning carefully around each character’s strengths and weaknesses. The Czech edition and expansions were announced for November 19, with optional plastic figures and other accessories.
• Night at the Zoo — A public digital alpha launched on Board Game Arena, with players invited to help identify bugs. A downloadable alternate unicorn rules variant was also announced for the physical game.
• The Gang — A new expansion lets seven to ten people play, adding escape tokens to help manage the increased difficulty. A Deluxe edition is also planned, with plastic cards, metal-core chips, a neoprene mat, and the previously released expansions. The expansion was announced for February 4.
• Cloud Empire — A new Stonemaier Games title set in a world created by illustrator Andrew Bosley. Players run airship tourism companies, using worker placement and light engine-building. It supports one to five players.
• Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs expansion — Adds two mercenaries, enemies, new mechanisms, and 17 scenarios. A new trap-card system and difficulty adjustments are highlighted.
• Below — A cooperative, one-shot survival-horror game. Players form a team of agents, plan ability synergies, and complete a ritual to seal a breach between realities before the approaching Monarch grows stronger.
• Dying Light and Don’t Starve — ALBI announced a collaboration with Xzone on a board-game adaptation of Dying Light. Don’t Starve was also named as a future board-game collaboration.
• Parks — A second edition of the family game was described as coming soon.
• Gloomhaven mercenary packs — Four new characters with distinct abilities are presented for use with Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, and Jaws of the Lion. The keynote also mentions forthcoming Frosthaven figure sets.
• Karak’s tenth anniversary — 2027 was declared the Year of Karak. A global contest will select a new hero for the anniversary edition, and tournament qualifiers are planned to lead to a world championship. An anniversary celebration was announced for March 31, 2027.
• Heart of Steel: Ostrava — A complex economic and political simulation of the industrial boom in the Moravian-Silesian borderlands in the 19th century. Players manage production chains and the stock market while their actions affect local politics—and political decisions affect their businesses. A full reveal is planned for May, with release the following year.
• Ever Shade — A final teaser introduced an epic-adventure setting from the team behind Tainted Grail and ISS Vanguard, inviting players to create a hero, choose a story, and forge a destiny.

ALBI Game Day

The festival was announced for the WPP Campus in Prague, running from Friday to Sunday. Activities include games to try with teach-in support, tournaments and registered sessions, a children’s zone, a free-play room, arcade games, a science corner, and a painting workshop.

A new ALBI Game Night for more experienced players was also announced for Saturday evening. Livestreams and later ALBI Game Day Tour events at selected board-game clubs were mentioned as ways to take part beyond the main festival.

Featured People and Sources

• Bára — Keynote presenter.
• Tomáš — ALBI presenter of the Grimcoven deep dive.
• Matěj Hrdý — Xzone representative discussing the Dying Light collaboration.
• Jamie Stegmaier — Designer named in connection with Scythe vs. Expeditions: Meloch’s Duel.
• Matthew Dunstan and Brad J. Gilbert — Designers of Before We Arrive.
• Edu — Artist named for Before We Arrive.
• Tomáš Holek — Designer of Night at the Zoo.
• Andrew Bosley — Illustrator associated with the world of Cloud Empire.
• Ondřej Bystroň and Petr Čáslava — Designers of Heart of Steel: Ostrava.
• Awaken Realms, Xzone, Stonemaier Games, Cephalofair Games, and CGE — Publishers or partners referenced in the announcements.