11th Jul2024

‘Star Wars: Bounty Hunters’ Card Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Another day, another Star Wars game – and this time, it’s a small box card game that promises simultaneous card drafting for between two and six players. This brief overview makes Star Wars: Bounty Hunters quite a versatile prospect, especially when you consider that it’s quite cheap, and designed by the same man who brought […]

02nd May2024

‘Shipwrights of the North Sea: Redux’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

When I first played Shipwrights of the North Sea a few years ago, I really didn’t enjoy it. I can’t recall the specific issues, but I do recall there being a huge amount of negative interaction between players, with cards that take resources away from you just as you are about to use them, and […]

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30th Apr2024

‘Word Traveler’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

In Word Traveler, a group of players represents friends who are on a trip together. Each player carries with them a map of places which they’d like to visit (represented by a small card that is kept secret) and must work with the other players to visit as many of their desired locations as possible. […]

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18th Apr2024

‘Dune: War for Arrakis’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

In Dune: War for Arrakis two to four players will control the opposing forces of House Atreides and House Harkonnen as they do battle to control the desert planet. Played over a series of rounds and lasting about 3 or 4 hours, Dune: War for Arrakis is actually best played by just two people. This […]

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26th Mar2024

Top 4: Board Games to Play this Easter!

by Matthew Smail

After Christmas, Easter is the largest public holiday where it is generally considered acceptable to tuck in to a huge family dinner and then eat chocolate on the sofa until you can no longer function. For me, there’s no better time to play games than when family is together, and a distraction from awful Bank […]

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20th Mar2024

‘Tomb of Annihilation’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Over the past five or ten years, the Dungeons & Dragons brand has reinvented itself not only as the most popular RPG system in the world but also as a diversified range of board, card and video games. Since 2015, the range has included a line of board games that take the core RPG system […]

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04th Mar2024

‘Star Wars Unlimited: Spark of Rebellion Starter Set’ Review

by Matthew Smail

It seems barely days ago when we first received a few images of cards from the upcoming Star Wars: Unlimited Trading Card Game (TCG) set, but here we are with a copy in hand and an official release date of 8th March. We’re lucky enough to have been sent the Spark of Rebellion Starter Set […]

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01st Mar2024

‘Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City & Families and Outcasts Expansion’ Review

by Matthew Smail

I am a huge fan of Cyberpunk 2077 (the video game) having come to it on console long after any of the controversy around its release had died down. Thanks to my love of the IP, I have been looking forward to getting a copy of Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City, even though the […]

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09th Feb2024

‘Dune: Imperium – Uprising’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Whilst we haven’t covered the original Dune: Imperium here at Nerdly, we did cover the very nice Dune: Imperium – Deluxe Upgrade Pack and I have played the base game a lot. Basic Dune: Imperium has become one of the most popular modern games of the moment, with copies available in almost every game group […]

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13th Dec2023

‘Perspectives’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

In the style of Mysterium Park and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, Perspectives is a fully cooperative deduction game that includes three separate cases that take place over four acts each. Every act takes around twenty to thirty minutes, giving the players around seven hours of content in the box. In this review I’ve taken pictures […]

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09th Nov2023

‘Dungeons and Dragons Onslaught’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Skirmish games between exactly two players make for some of the most exciting encounters in board gaming. Whether you’re playing as the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe in Marvel: Crisis Protocol, or recreating iconic dogfights from the Star Wars universe in X-Wing 2.0, this is a genre that offers both strategic depth and […]

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06th Nov2023

‘Marvel Zombies: X-Men Resistance’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

As I drag the latest massive box (or boxes) of Zombicide through my door, I often wonder whether it will simply be more or the same. The last time out, when I reviewed Zombicide: Undead or Alive, I was pleasantly surprised by new mechanics and features. However, the newest Zombicide game – Marvel Zombies: X-Men […]

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08th Feb2023

‘Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Sometimes when a game is conceived via Kickstarter, it can be mired in controversy that’s linked more to the publisher than the designer or the game itself. Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge is one such game, with the issue here coming from the fact that Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge actually made it to retail […]

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28th Sep2022

‘Carnival Zombie: Second Edition’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Sometimes you play a game and you realise how much care and attention to detail has gone into it. Carnival Zombie: Second Edition is most definitely one such game, and whilst there is no doubt that the fact it is effectively the second bite at the cherry for designer Matteo Santus gives it a bit […]

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07th Sep2021

‘Meadow’ Board Game Review

by Matthew Smail

Sometimes in board gaming, we talk about games having a “relaxing theme” or perhaps of being a game that suits players who want a less competitive vibe. I imagine for designers, it must be tough to translate this idea from theme into mechanics – with perhaps a good example being Wingspan, which uses both “friendly” […]

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