Matthew Smail

If you’re a fan of Portal Games' Robinson Crusoe, then perhaps their latest release — Thorgal — might also appeal to you. This solo or cooperative game charts the adventures of a lesser known Belgian cartoon hero (the titular Thorgal), but…

Immersive Sims like Thief, Deus Ex and later Bioshock and Dishonoured used to be some of my very favourites. First person games with non-linear ways to make your way through large, complex levels — often driven by a compelling narrative.…

The original Commandos was one of the smartest, best looking and most innovative games of its time. Back in 1998, there was practically nothing like it, but in the nearly thirty years that have followed, various remakes and remasters of…

When Amerzone landed in my inbox, I could hardly believe it. Not only was it only just a few months ago that Microids published a plush, incredibly well-crafted remake of the thirty year old Empire of the Ants, but now they’ve gone ahead…

For the novice painter, there’s nothing better than fairly large miniatures with overstated features and relatively few small details. Having good quality cast miniatures is also beneficial, and that makes CMON’s Marvel United series of…

Once upon a time, video games were often based on board games — because believe it or not, there were people back in the day who thought that the tabletop was King, and that these newfangled “computer-things” would never take off. That was…

Any experienced gamer will know the name Reiner Knizia — but the good doctor tends to split opinion when it comes to whether his games are any good, or not. Here at B3, we enjoyed Yellow & Yangtze and loved The Quest for El Dorado, but…

Imagine a roguelite shooter that mocks the AI-powered, dopamine-fuelled world we’re heading towards with frightening levels of precognition whilst also simultaneously delivering exactly the shot in the arm that it claims all humans will…

I often find beasts and monsters the most interesting things to paint, since there’s a lot of room for artistic interpretation. Maladum: Dungeons of Environ recently made its way into our Top Dungeon Crawlers list based on pure merit, and…

Yes, if you hadn’t already guessed it — I’ve been painting a shedload of one of my favourite dungeon crawlers; Zombicide: Second Edition. The base game comes with ten survivors, four abominations and a huge number of walker, runner and…