by W. Eric Martin

▪️ U.S. publisher Thames & Kosmos has announced two new releases that will debut at Gen Con 2026, with the headliner being The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth, a standalone sequel to Thomas Sing‘s 2019 game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine.

As with the original The Crew, The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth is a co-operative trick-taking game in which players attempt to collectively complete missions through card play. Here’s a teaser for the game’s setting and what you’re doing:

Lava fits in there somewhere as well.

The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth, which retails for US$15, will contain 25 stages in the player journey, and Thames & Kosmos estimates that the game will ship to buyers in mid-August 2026.

▪️ The other Gen Con 2026 debut is related to a Q2 2026 release, with that being The Gang: More Players, which German publisher KOSMOS had already revealed in November 2025.

This expansion to John Cooper and Kory Heath‘s co-operative game The Gang includes new four sets of bidding poker chips, allowing for games with up to ten players. New gameplay mechanisms are hinted at, but not revealed, so perhaps there’s more of a twist to the expansion than finding room for more chairs at the table.

One new item that is mentioned are “exit chips” that simplify the game when playing with five or six people. The Gang: More Players retails for US$10.

▪️ As for the Gen Con 2026 release, that would be The Gang: Deluxe Edition, which is a blingy edition of The Gang that features ceramic poker chips, casino-quality cards, and a custom playmat, as well as expansions, presumably the previously released The Jokers & More from 2024 and Tools of the Trade from 2025.

However, the game page on the Thames & Kosmos website mentions two expansions, but the company’s press release mentions three mini-expansions, including a new one titled “The Dealer”. I’ve asked for clarification…