by W. Eric Martin

I post expansion round-ups every so often, and these posts feel like expansions on what I normally do, that is, largely of interest only to those who have seen the original posts. I guess that’s just the nature of things…

▪️ Days of Wonder has revealed the next expansion for Heat: Pedal to the Metal from Asger Aleksandrov Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen, with Heat: Flirrende Hitze (“Shimmering Heat”) due out at the end of February 2026, with a debut at the FIJ game fair in Cannes, France. Here’s the pitch for this release:

Gravel crunches under your tires, and your race car spins out with an ominous lurch. You clutch. You shift. You accelerate. The engine roars, and your car recovers, now hugging the ideal line through the curve. The gravel is unforgiving, but so are you, so go full throttle until the tires smoke!

Heat: Flirrende Hitze includes a double-sided game board with two new race tracks — South Africa with a gravel track, and Germany with a high-speed chicane — as well as new upgrades, sponsor, and event cards and an additional race car so that up to seven players can place Heat simultaneously.

▪️ In addition to releasing eight sets of 32mm miniatures for Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz in Q2 2026, Modiphius Entertainment is working with designers Calvin Wong Tze Loon 黃子倫 and Eric M. Lang on an expansion scheduled for release in early 2027. From the publisher: “[T]he expansion will introduce six new squadmates to the game. It will also allow for new ways to play, as well as new loyalty missions and new enemy groups.”

▪️ In early 2026, WizKids will release Sidereal Confluence: Proliferation, an expansion by Jacob Davenport that adds 18 set-up cards, 42 new colony cards, and 38 bidding cards and to TauCeti Deichmann‘s Sidereal Confluence. Here’s the publisher’s pitch: “These advanced colonies increase in value as the game progresses, opening up new strategies for even the most experienced players, and new bidding mechanisms speed up the game while providing new avenues to negotiation.”

▪️ PlayPunk will add ballast to its Spiel des Jahres-nominated Captain Flip from Paolo Mori and Remo Conzadori with the Isla Bomba expansion, which features four new adventure boards — four for each player, that is — and five new treasure maps. Each map seemingly provides a twist on the normal “Get 1 coin at the start of your turn” bonus, such as “Get 2 coins, but without being able to flip tiles” or “Take 1 coin from whoever has the most coins” or “Take 1 coin, but have this blow up if you take 5 total”. Maybe you’d interpret them differently.

If you’re not familiar with Captain Flip, here’s my 2023 overview.

▪️ Cryptozoic Entertainment has released DC Deck-Building Game: Peacemaker Pack, a small expansion for that large game line that consists of two hero cards (Peacemaker and Vigilante), nemesis versions of these characters, two starter cards for use with DC Deck-Building Game: Arkham Asylum, and rules.

▪️ Moon Crab Games launched in 2024 with Justin Kemppainen‘s giant-climbing game Leviathan Wilds, then followed it with the mid-2025 Deepvale expansion that brought new characters and leviathans to your table.

In early 2026, Moon Crab Games will crowdfund Leviathan Wilds: Shattered Peak, which leaves behind the catacombs of Deepvale for adventures in thin air:

Years ago, a massive explosion tore apart the towering mountain range in the Wilds. Now your motley brigade of climbers will ascend to these lofty heights to discover the cause. This expansion features eleven new leviathans, including winged serpents, raging storm clouds, and creatures that lurk within the very mountains themselves! A new, d8 crystal die teleports when struck, adding a new layer of challenge.

Non-final cover

Three new climbers join the ranks, including Recoil the sharpshooter and the thrill-seeking Dare, alongside three new classes, including the concoction-brewing Alchemist and the Geomancer, who manipulates crystals near and far.