Author

Matthew Smail

Matt is B3's resident Head of Board Games. As a life-long fan of all things gaming he'll also occasionally be found covering video games with the team,

Reviews

Flotilla is a theme-heavy eurogame from Wizkids, but does it sink or swim?

Matthew Smail Apr 4, 2022 0

Although apparently in the minority, I used to consider Kevin Costner’s Waterworld one of my favourite films. I think what I liked about it was the unique take on the idea of a world ravaged by global warming and what that meant to the…

Reviews

5 Minute Read — The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante

Matthew Smail Mar 30, 2022 0

Like any good Choose Your Own Adventure-style narrative RPG, The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante presents the reader/player with innumerable difficult choices — but unlike most adventures that follow this style, The Life and Suffering of…

Reviews

5 Minute Read — Serious Sam 4 Console Edition

Matthew Smail Mar 28, 2022 0

Ashamed as I am to admit it, I remember when the first Serious Sam game was released around twenty years ago. Even then, Serious Sam was positioned as the antidote to increasingly complex, objective driven first-person shooters like Ghost…

Reviews

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game — Revised Core Set is a great place to begin your Fellowship

Matthew Smail Mar 25, 2022 2

A little while ago, I was lucky enough to review the Lord of the Rings Adventure Card Game on Xbox and I really enjoyed it. As I was researching that review, I realised that the digital release was actually based on a board game — Lord of…

Reviews

Melty Blood Type Lumina is a challenger for the title of best anime fighter

Matthew Smail Mar 23, 2022 0

Full disclosure, I have always been a traditionalist when it comes to fighting games — my talent ran out somewhere around the time Tekken 3 was released, and I definitely have more of an affinity with slower, more traditional fighting games…

Reviews

Does Reiner Knizia’s Mille Fiori shatter Azul’s reign as the abstract game of choice?

Matthew Smail Mar 21, 2022 0

In general, when Dr Reiner Knizia sets his mind to something, the outcome tends to be good. Knizia is responsible for some of our favorite games, with the likes of The Quest for El Dorado, Yellow & Yangtze and Lost Cities among his…

Reviews

The Quest for El Dorado is part deck builder, part race, but all Knizier

Matthew Smail Mar 17, 2022 21

Dr Reiner Knizia is without doubt one of the most prolific and talented board game designers that has ever lived. Perhaps one of the best things about the sheer number of games Knizia has produced is that his back catalogue is just as good…

Reviews

Galaxy Trucker — A Game for the Ages

Matthew Smail Mar 14, 2022 0

Review updated on March 14th, 2022- adding in thoughts about newest version of Galaxy Trucker. When it comes to legendary board game designers, few are more renowned than Vlaada Chvatil. Among his many accolades, Vlaada held BoardGameGeek’s…

Reviews

Project Wingman — 5 Minute Read

Matthew Smail Mar 10, 2022 0

300 multi-purpose missiles, forty bombs and over one thousand rounds of heavy-machine gun ammunition. That, believe it or not, is a relatively modest payload for the airplanes you'll fly in Sector D2's excellent Project Wingman — a clear…

Reviews

Tyrants of the Underdark — underground, no one can hear you scream

Matthew Smail Mar 7, 2022 2

Because board games are usually printed in limited numbers of perhaps up to a few thousand (for a standard retail release) there can be a big difference between versions when a reprint comes several years later. In the case of Tyrants of…

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