In addition to handling pre-orders for Alexander Pfister and Peter Prinz's upcoming game -60º from Nanox Games — as described here — German publisher dlp games has three titles of its own that will debut at SPIEL Essen 26 in October, along with an early 2027 release that it will demo at that show. Let's survey what's coming, with the 2026 titles being available for pre-order via the game links.
Pirates of Maracaibo: Shipbuilders
Let's start with a Pfister title of dlp's own, with Pirates of Maracaibo: Shipbuilders from Alexander Pfister and Ryan Hendrickson being the third expansion for 2023's Pirates of Maracaibo, which was co-designed by Hendrickson, Pfister, and Ralph Bienert, who runs this title's co-publisher, Game's Up.
The pitch for this expansion is straightforward: "Now is the time to adapt your boat to meet every challenge and finally set sail across the Caribbean in a magnificent ship! Prepare to launch new ships and adorn them with two new figureheads."
In short: Want more ships? Build these ships!
Loyalty: Rome
In Nicholas Paschalis' Loyalty: Rome, each of the 2-4 players is a Roman senator vying for the favor of the gods, but not every god can be influenced at all times — and they don't necessarily stick around awaiting your attention.
Each turn, you take one of four actions, with the main action being to place a messenger on a god, take an influence die from below it, then carry out the main action (marked with a filled star) or general action on the card; each other player can then follow by placing a messenger on the first space of the temple track, then carrying out the general action...unless they already have a messenger on this god, in which case they could do the main action instead.
If any part of an action can't be fulfilled, you can't take it. No influence die under a god means you can't choose that god. No messengers in your supply means you can't follow another player. You can retrieve messengers from the temple as an action, gaining whatever rewards they stand on. You can also just take a die from below a god and a coin from the reserve, which prevents others from following you or (possibly) taking an action at that god.
At the start of a turn, if you have 2+ messengers on a god and more messengers than anyone else, you gain the random favor above that god and the dice below that god, then discard it in favor of a new random god and a new random favor. (How capricious we are with these gods! Help me, help me, help me, see you later!) Next, if you have 3+ dice, you roll them to seed the god row with more potential actions.
You use seven-tenths of the gods in any game, and when that stack, the favor stack, or a laurel stack runs out, you do some clean-up, then see who has more prestige.
Underwood
Italian designer Andrea Mainini has four games coming out in 2026, all of them co-designs with one other person. I covered Bella Vista, a co-design with Bruno Cathala, in May 2026, and now we're looking at the 2-4 player game Underwood, created with Remo Conzadori.
In this game, players will spread their mycelia through the forest, sprouting mushrooms bit by bit, with gameplay far more streamlined and minimalist than in Elizabeth Hargrave's similarly named Undergrove. (Remember the year of Mycelia madness! 2023 was not so long ago...)
To play, smoosh 11-17 forest tiles into a continuous surface, then seed the board with four mycelium tokens in your color in reverse player order. On a turn, flip one of your mycelium tokens to make it a mushroom, then choose either the forest tile you're on or a forest tile adjacent to this mushroom and place mycelium tokens on each space on this tile that's adjacent to the new mushroom...possibly covering opposing mycelia in the process.
When someone can't play because they don't have enough tokens to spread, the game ends. Each tile is claimed by whichever player has the most mushrooms on it, with most mycelia breaking a tie; if a tile has only mycelia, then whoever has the most takes it. Each tile is worth points equal to its size (2-6), with leftover mycelia being worth half-points.
The game includes variants with open forests, trees, and ant trails, giving you new ways to spread your spores and more things to score.
Chivalry
What dlp games will only demo at SPIEL Essen 26 is Dávid Turczi's Chivalry, a co-production with Game's Up due out in Q1 2027. Here's an overview of this 1-4 player game that carries a playing time of 45-120 minutes:
As ambitious knights in the realm of King Arthur, you and your fellow players seek glory, influence, and renown.
Each turn represents one day for your knights in the realm. At dawn, your knights ride to market towns, countrysides, ports, or Camelot itself. During the day, they take actions based on the locations they visit. At twilight, they make camp, call their retinue back to service, and (if summoned) attend the feast at Camelot.
Your retainers provide the skills your knights need to act. By placing them on your player board, you gain temporary skills that can be used to increase movement, perform location actions, complete quests and encounters, and resolve powerful effects.
You'll also want to raise the seals of Merlin and Morgana — two rival powers that shape the destiny of every region. Not only do you gain powerful new abilities from Merlin or Morgana, but you also determine which deeds yield the most glory when scoring the regions. Along the way, your knights can discover ancient runes hidden throughout the realm, win the favor of members of Camelot's court to support your cause, and even seek an audience with King Arthur himself.
