On 17 August 2026, I wrote about yet another tabletop adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's work — Jonathan Chaffer's The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark from Grand Gamers Guild — but designers and publishers are exploring worlds outside Middle-earth as well.
▪️ Somewhat younger than Tolkien's writings, but not by much, is Jack Vance's The Dirdir, the third novel from his "Planet of Adventure" tetralogy published from 1968 to 1970. Designer Joel Sparks is crowdfunding a game set in "the jewel-studded hunting ground" featured in this novel, describing The Carabas as "the first ever board game from the worlds of Jack Vance". Here's an overview:
Up to five players control crews of desperate humans striving to uncover precious gems and return with them to safety. Meanwhile, the vicious alien Dirdir stalk the landscape, hunting the humans tooth and claw. The more ground a crew covers, the more they attract deadly alien attention.
Move your crews across the colorful map, draw sequin gems from the cloth bag, and roll special three-sided dice to find out how close the hunters come to you — or perhaps you can lure them to attack a rival crew along the way. Beware the Excellences, keenest hunters of all, and the eventual wave of aircars that will shut the whole terrain down!
▪️ What's more, for Pan Universal Galactic Worldwide, which to date has mostly released collectible items related to comics, Sparks has designed The Maltese Falcon, a card game based on Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel of the same name. An overview:
Up to five characters move among the noir locations of 1920s San Francisco, searching for the real version of the precious Maltese Falcon statue. Each turn, you use a movement card — which features both a location and a character — to go to that location or to where that character is located, then you take a single action: search, steal, or reveal a gun or a falcon. You can affect other characters only if you share a location.
Meanwhile, the police are closing in, and someone is going to jail for murder. When the Fuzz card turns up, whoever is caught with the murder charge gets hauled away and can't win. If an unjailed character has the real Falcon statue, they win; otherwise, it's a matter of money and freedom.
▪️ Fitting in the timeline between Middle-earth and Carabas is Hal Jordan, a.k.a. the superhero Green Lantern, who first appeared in the 1959 comic Showcase #22 in a story by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane.
To coincide with the debut of the Lanterns TV series on HBO, which features Jordan and his successor John Stewart, Cryptozoic Entertainment is crowdfunding DC Deck-Building Game: Green Lantern Corps since sixty-plus years of Lantern lore can now fill a standalone game in this publisher's DC Deck-Building Game series, which features sixteen standalone titles and dozens of expansions and promos as of mid-2026.
▪️ In October 2026, Goliath Games will release A Court of Thorns and Roses: Fate & Favor Board Game, an adaptation of Sarah J. Maas' 2015 novel of the same name, with the sixth title in that eight-book series — A Court of Splintered Harmony — also reaching stores in October 2026.
The description of this 1-7(!) player game is minimal, with no designer being credited in the publicity materials I've seen:
Step into the magical world of Prythian as a High Lord or Lady, and represent one of the seven courts: Night, Day, Dawn, Winter, Summer, Spring, or Autumn. Build alliances with iconic characters, spread your influence across the courts, and navigate shifting loyalties as fate entangles every player at the table. Will you form powerful bonds, outmaneuver your rivals, or fall victim to dangerous intrigue? With strategic gameplay, evolving relationships, and immersive storytelling, only the player with the greatest influence will rise to power.
