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

7 Wonders (Second Edition) is an old treasure, brought back to life with spit and polish

Matthew Smail Oct 12, 2020 15

Antoine Bauza’s 7 Wonders is — apparently — one of the most awarded and best selling modern board games in circulation. Its city-building gameplay is evocative of the Civilization series of video games, yet its light mechanics and support…

Reviews

Small World of Warcraft is late to the party, but it comes with beer and snacks, so…

Matthew Smail Oct 5, 2020 0

Exceptional collaborations come in many forms — gin and tonic, bacon and eggs, Starsky and Hutch, to name just a few. In media such as board and video games however, such collaborations often seem doomed to failure as creative differences…

Reviews

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs gnashes its teeth at larger worker placement games

Matthew Smail Sep 21, 2020 0

Given how obvious the idea is, I’m surprised that it took board game designers so long to adopt the idea of building out a Jurassic Park style dinosaur safari park. Only recently have we seen the likes of Dinosaur Island and Dinogenics…

Reviews

Alien Frontiers is a neat, concise dice rolling, card drafting, planet colonisation game

Matthew Smail Sep 14, 2020 0

In all honesty, there are so many new board games coming out these days that it’s not often we get the chance to jump into an older game. Where Alien Frontiers is concerned though, I’m happy to make an exception, because you know I love a…

Reviews

Carrion is a short, visceral metroidvania that turns the tables

Matthew Smail Sep 8, 2020 0

Over the course of about six hours, Carrion will desensitize you to all normal human emotions and actions. This is a game that makes it so easy to slip into the squelching tentacles of its otherworldly protagonist that when you put the…

Reviews

Cooperative Trick Taking and Lots of Empathy Make The Crew a Stellar Experience

Matthew Smail Sep 7, 2020 0

When I think of trick-taking games, I almost never think of cooperation. Teamwork (in games like Whist) yes, but cooperation, no. The need to win — or take — tricks, is inherently focused on winning, and the idea of throwing a trick away…

Reviews

Deep Vents is a small box game that delivers a big bite of value

Matthew Smail Sep 4, 2020 0

I’ve said on many occasions that what I love most about board games (and video games, to be fair) is that they transport me to distant realms, far away worlds and, in the case of Deep Vents, deep, deep under the sea. This latest title from…

Reviews

Zoo Run is a competitive and cooperative game about escaping the zoo

Matthew Smail Aug 31, 2020 0

In Zoo Run, children of all ages will work cooperatively and competitively to help a group of animals escape from the zoo. The cute visuals will draw in younger players whilst their older family members laugh and joke alongside them.…

Reviews

Court of the Dead: Mourners Call weaves incredible lore into solid Ameritrash

Matthew Smail Aug 28, 2020 0

Court of the Dead: Mourners Call is quite a mouthful — and at first glance, the box appears to be as large as the title. This is one of those huge box thematic games that results from a large Kickstarter, and even though the review copy…

Reviews

Faeria is a huge CCG and strategy hybrid that goes as deep as it does wide

Matthew Smail Aug 25, 2020 0

As (just about) the main tabletop reviewer here, my attention is often more on paper and card than it is on digital games. When a video game chooses to root itself firmly in board game mechanics however, my interest is always piqued. Faeria…

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