Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game

After a long dry spell, Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game landed on our table as a thankfully juicy game for three. Let’s clear something up early, though: the suggested 90–120 minutes is laughable. A first game has no serious chance of finishing in under four hours. It is that familiar Polish computer-game IP adaptation: lots of somewhat overengineered rules, a real effort to faithfully capture the spirit of the original, and gameplay that is solid but gradually starts to feel heavy.

Everyone takes a faction, builds a small deck, and starts roaming the map. You hunt for resources, treasures, and victory points or objectives, while the game constantly tries to remind you of the computer game that most of you have probably played to death. There is plenty of flavour, and the sense of exploration comes through rather well, even if the rules demand their share of time and attention.

Battles take place on a separate board, and this is where the game has a genuinely clever idea. At first the spectacle is a little intimidating, especially if Titan has left you with psychological scars from twelve-hour games, but the system ultimately delivers fair, smart fighting. Crucially, the real enemy is not so much the player across from you as time itself: the battles and the whole journey across the map ask for many hours, rather than simply turning into mutual destruction.

We liked it quite a lot, although, like Burning Banners, it loses a little on the scenarios: not all of them are equally good. I definitely find it more interesting with two players, and it would probably be ideal solo too — yes, haha. I would play it again for a special occasion, because we genuinely had a great time. But if I have five or six hours to burn, I would personally rather put a heavyweight or a heavy wargame on the table.