Matthew Smail 485 posts 46 comments

I’ve often bemoaned the fact that console gamers never seem to get “proper” versions of grand strategy games. There are probably two or maybe three reasons for this — the first and second are because of how consoles are made; with limited…

It can be a bit of a challenge to review games that are subject to a remake. Sometimes I have a strong opinion, or on other occasions I’ve never even heard of a particular game. In some cases, I didn’t like the original game, or at the very…

I don’t have a great relationship with the roguelike genre. The idea of repeatedly throwing myself at a variable (and often unfair) task over and over again, usually for marginal gains (if any) and always for the reward of doing the same…

Big Box versions of popular board games can be a bit of a mixed, erm, box. It can be extremely tempting to think of the “value” you’re getting when investing in a box that includes a base game and any number of expansions, both in terms of…

Whilst I’ve previously gone on record to say that Through the Ages might be the ultimate civilization-building simulator, there’s no doubt that it does its thing in a fairly abstract way — as do other Civ builders such as Civilization: a…

Bluffing has always been a cornerstone of traditional card games, with games like Go Fish, Bluff and S**thead (or your local variant thereof) all being popular classics the world over. But sometimes, a game like Sheriff of Nottingham comes…

When I think of iconic modern board games, Blood Rage occupies the top spot in terms of the genre that is affectionately known as “Ameritrash". This area control game from legendary designer Eric M. Lang and big-budget publisher CMON is…

If you’ve read my recent review of Ankh: Gods of Egypt, then you’ll know how big a fan I am of Eric Lang’s epic “Mythic” trilogy. Ankh is a fantastic game in its most basic form, but as with most games launched via Kickstarter, there are…

Open-world crafting and survival games can be daunting at the best of times, but when you take the standard approach to resource collection, base building, survival and ultimately combat and then put it in space; you have an entirely more…

If you’re reading this review, then I’d be willing to bet a lot of money — maybe even a crisp fiver — that you’ve heard of Ticket to Ride. Even if you’re here because you're curious about whether you should take the step of purchasing it as…