Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game

The box says 90–120 minutes, and the table laughs. A first game comfortably takes four hours, perhaps more, bringing exactly what you expect from a Polish computer-game IP adaptation: rules with a few bolts too many, deep affection for the original, and an experience that fills you up before it begins to weigh on you. If you spent years wearing out Heroes III, though, you will happily eat up every bit of that flavour.

You choose a faction, build a small deck, and head across the map. You gather resources, uncover treasures, and chase victory points and objectives. The map always offers something worth doing and, naturally, something another player may get to first. This is not a quick lap around the board; it is a campaign, and it spreads.

Combat moves to its own board and initially makes you pause: it has a little Titan in it, so some players will already hear the distant bells of twelve-hour games. But it works intelligently here, and the fighting stays fair rather than becoming a punishment for the person seated opposite you. The real monster is not the player across the table; it is the clock.

We liked it a good deal, although its scenarios share Burning Banners’ problem: they are not all equally good. It is surely more interesting with two, and it looks well suited to solo play too. I would play it again for a special occasion and have a fine time; if I have five or six hours to spare, though, I will probably put a proper beast or a heavy wargame on the table instead.