Tabletop Reviews

There are hundreds of dice games out there, from classics that use regular six sided dice like Yahtzee and Liar’s Dice, to a whole host of modern variants that mix up the formula. Franky: Rock’n Vegas is one such modern take, but with that…

I have often found that art is an underutilised theme for board games, especially since good artwork is so critical to the presentation of games these days. The last art-themed game I played was the light eurogame Atelier, but now I’ve got…

When I opened the sturdy, magnetised box of KingDomino Duel, I was expecting something that at least vaguely resembled the original game. What I got, however, was something that looked entirely different to me, to the extent that aside from…

When I look at my board game collection, I see dragons, Vikings, knights, colourful farms and countless other subjects, but I can’t see a single themeless game among them. That was, of course, until Pentago arrived. The red, black and white…

During the last two months or so, like the rest of the United Kingdom and most of the world, I’ve been confined to quarters thanks to Covid-19. During this time, aside from expanding my collection of unopened Lego sets and drinking too much…

On a Scale of One to T-Rex is a game, not entirely dissimilar to charades, where players perform actions like "Be a T-Rex" or "The Floor is Lava" to a specified intensity — which can produce some truly funny moments.  This game is made for…

If you’re familiar with a popular worked placement game called Snowdonia, then it would probably suffice to say that the subject of today’s review, Alubari: a Nice Cup of Tea, is more or less the same game but set in India. Sadly though,…

There are additional challenges along the way, including escort quests, bosses to fight, and secret doors to open, but the core mechanics stay fairly similar. You’ll find that your character develops over the course of the chapters — each…

It’s 8th century China, the Tang dynasty, and Emperor Xuanzong wants a garden building where he can live with his concubine. Players take on the roles of garden designers, placing tiles in the garden to create areas of enchanting terrain…

Although I’ve only played a few personally, the Roll-and-Write genre is becoming ever more popular among board gamers. Played on a printed sheet with nothing but a pen and a few dice (in most cases) these games are fast and filled with…

When I saw Monster Splat, I fell in love with the idea of having those sticky monster hands as the main component in a game. This colourful and cute game for two to four players is great for children and adults alike as it has an age rating…

With an age rating of six and upwards and lasting just ten minutes per game, you’d be forgiven for passing Flip Over Frog off as a pure children’s game. Whilst it is aimed at younger players and perhaps portable gaming, there’s a lot more…

The latest entry in The Op’s Rising series sees up to four players working together to try and prevent the Empire’s superweapon, the Death Star, from being built. Players recruit agents and go on missions but must beware the baleful gaze of…

Hero’s Crossing is a two to four player, town-building management game where your dice are a valued resource and trying to sell items to heroes is your plan, all before your competitors are able to claim these heroes for themselves. The…

I don’t often play what I would consider to be party games, and as a rule, I discount them on the basis that they lack the decisions and depth that I seek. Oriflamme rewrites the rulebook thanks to its exciting, often outright mean…

Last year, I was lucky enough to grab a copy of Phil Walker-Hardings' Imhotep, a two to four-player game in which the players compete to build pyramids, obelisks and tombs in honour of the Pharaoh. In Imhotep: The Duel, the gameplay is…

Airship City sees up to four players competing to provide the most for the betterment of a great metropolis in the sky. Harvest resources, contribute towards communal social projects and fulfil supply requests but plan carefully because, in…

Although we haven’t covered many solo board games here at B3, when we have come across them we’ve enjoyed them. Nemo’s War, Cities: Skylines and The Rise and Fall of Anvalor all managed to put a smile on my face, but The Ratcatcher, which…

Whilst the box is much smaller and the gameplay a little lighter, Roam continues to expand Ryan Laukat’s existing universe both visually and thematically, with characters that are similar to both Above and Below and Near and Far and a…

If you’re a regular reader of B3’s tabletop section, you’ll know that we’re huge fans of the Dale of Merchants series of games, thanks to our coverage of Dale of Merchants 1 and 2 and Dale of Merchants Collection. This May, Snowdale Design…