Review Details

Small World

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on January 25, 2010):

Smallworld is a fairly casual 2-5 player conquering game set in the Fantasy setting. The basic idea of the game is that you choose races to take over territories on the map to score points. Over time though, you'll have to put your race in decline as you may have stretched yourself a bit too thin. When you do though, you start over and choose a new race to take over more territory.

One of the great things about the game is that there is a great amount of diversity when choosing your race. Each race chosen comes with a special power badge, which gives your race a special ability in addition to the race's own ability. This can range from bonuses to conquering territory or victory points. The core game comes with 14 races and 20 power badges so it's rarely the same old race/power combo. While large number of race combinations can be overwhelming at times, there are player summary sheets that come with the game that lists what the badges and races do.

When you conquer territory, the number of units you get is the sum of the power badge and race numbers. Taking over territory itself is not too difficult as you just need to count the number of units required to take over the territory. At the end of your turn, you score points based on your active and decline races on the board. If you find your race has been overexerted, you can turn your races over in decline, then wait a turn to choose a new race to wreak havoc on the board. Again, the player summary sheet goes over the game mechanics quite nicely so it helps when you're first learning the game instead of having to continuously flip through the instruction manual.

Another nice feature is that the game comes with two map boards: one for a 2 and 3 player game, and another for a 4 and 5 player game. The great thing about this is that you and your other fellow players play a map catered to how many people you have. Depending on the number of players involved, a regular game is completed in 8-10 rounds, which takes an average of probably an hour or less to finish once you know how the game plays.

The major downside with the game is that it is a little pricier on average compared to other board games. However, that being said, you get what you pay for: very visually appealing artwork, beautiful and robust cardboard tiles, and a plastic tray where you can easily sort out all the tiles. Seriously, with the almost 200 race tokens that comes with the game, the tray helps out A LOT for sorting. You really do get what you pay for.

Small World is a great game that doesn't take itself too seriously compared to other games like it. It's fairly accessible to a diverse group of players and isn't too wordy on rules. It's great to look at and simple to play once you know how it works. Very recommended.