Welcome back boardgame adventurers. Pull up a chair, rest those weary feet and pour yourself a delicious cup of Yorkshire Tea as I have gone into the digital wilderness for you and grabbed a few board games that I think you should be interested in this June. Don’t forget to reflect on last month’s finds too.
Earthborne Trailblazer
Time to go back to the future for Earthborne Trailblazer, the new cooperative open-world adventure board game for 1–5 players from Earthborne Games, set in the same far-future solarpunk universe as Earthborne Rangers. Players take on the role of Rangers exploring beyond their home valley, discovering new locations, helping communities, and uncovering dynamic stories across a large illustrated world map. Unlike Earthborne Rangers, it’s a standalone board game rather than a campaign card game, designed to offer a more accessible way to experience the setting. Just like its predecessor, the artwork stands out and really highlights the way humanity has changed. There is a lot of this style of art around at the moment with the likes of Kinfire and I am all for it.
In Earthborne Trailblazers, you will Prepare, Explore and Travel. There seems to be some very good cooperative narrative work on the go here. Its certainly one I will look at as my group loves a good narrative experience.
Earthborne Trailblazer is available on Kickstarter to back now!
Concordia Special Edition
Concordia Special Edition is a premium reimagining of Mac Gerdts’ acclaimed Roman trading eurogame, published by Awaken Realms in collaboration with PD-Verlag.
Players expand their influence across the Roman Empire through trade, colonisation, and clever hand management, with cards serving as both actions and end-game scoring opportunities.
This new edition features completely refreshed artwork that is just shockingly gorgeous, upgraded components, improved map readability, new gameplay modules, a brand-new map, and a wealth of previously released Concordia content, all packaged as the definitive version of one of modern board gaming’s most respected strategy titles.
We have seen the Castles of Burgundy and Puerto Rico Special Editions and they have been wonderfully received by those of us in the hobby. if you have younger players, I highly recommend you check out Sandcastles of Burgundy that we really enjoyed here at Big Boss Battle.
I firmly believe that Concordia Special Edition is one to back and then you can have this on your shelf for many years to come, of course, hopefully with some plays and not gathering dust as I know I can be guilty of at times. As someone with a strong academic background in Roman history, I might have to back this one or forever feel that I missed out.
Concordia Special Edition is available on Gamefound, with its campaign starting in early June 2026.
Let’s Go! To France
Let’s Go! To France is the sequel to Let’s Go! To Japan, designed by Josh Wood and published by AEG, continuing the series’ focus on travel-planning as a tightly structured puzzle of optimisation and set collection. Like its predecessor Lets go to Japan, which our own Matt Smail rather enjoyed , the game centres on players building out a personalised holiday itinerary using a large deck of multi-use cards, but shifts the structure away from Japan’s dual-city route system into a more regional exploration of France, with Paris acting as a hub for excursions into surrounding areas.
Compared to Let’s Go! To Japan, Lets Go! To France introduces a broader scope and more emphasis on regional choice, with players deciding not just what to do, but where their trip is anchored each day. This adds an extra layer of route planning on top of the established card-driven engine, while retaining the accessible, family-weight approach that made the original a success.
As Let’s Go! To Japan could be used by people to plan a real life trip to Japan, I very much feel that if you are planning a trip around France, then this will help you and also give you a very decent game at the same time.
Let’s Go! To France is on Kickstarter now!
Honourable Mention – Ironmasters of Yorkshire
Ironmasters of Yorkshire hasn’t launched its campaign yet, and it might not in June, but I found this little gem and I wanted to shine a light on it.
Designed by Michal Jarzembowski and set during the Industrial Revolution in Yorkshire, the game casts players as competing industrialists building ironworks, expanding production networks, and managing the growth of their business empire. Core gameplay focuses on resource management, engine building, and market competition, as players balance investment in infrastructure with the demand for iron and manufactured goods.
Looking at the board, I felt that it could be like Brass, but lighter. I wont lie, I am from Yorkshire, I live here now, and it was lovely to see the places I call home in this game. I even had lunch at one of the board spaces yesterday. So for me, this is one to watch with some interest. Maybe I will feel differently when the campaign goes live, but I am, for the moment, hopeful.
You can check it out for yourself on Gamefound.
Until next time my fellow gamers, get out there, roll some dice, shuffle some cards, and never ever let my friend Alastair be the miner in Stardew Valley The Board Game.
