by ragesteel
Introduction
I write this hours before my new kid is about to be born, wife being induced tomorrow morning. Yet another permanent player for my games
I apologize for no photos or detailed rules explanations - My purpose is to help you make a decision as to whether you should pay the money to buy this game.
Background
Small World is a game made by Days of Wonder. Various races (such as Elves, Dwarves, Giants, Ghouls, Skeletons, etc.,) are vying for control of limited land space while facing the possibility of extinction.
Components
Days of Wonder threw in four maps (two double sided boards) to accommodate a number of players. This is great thinking as the maps are balanced according to how many players are on the field.
The map art is OK, to be fair. And the main components that represent the armies (races) are made of durable cardboard stock. It would have been really nice to have a higher quality piece to represent the races.
Overall, I felt that the quality of the playing pieces (primarily the tokens for races) are poor - they could have been better (i.e. custom looking plastic figures for each race).
Point of the game
To win you must accumulate as many victory coins before the end of turn 10. You accomplish this by laying claim to lands. Some powers give you bonus points (i.e. the mining power would give you a bonus coin if you held a region that had a mine on it).
Game Play
The game is easy - in fact its WAY easy - probably easier than checkers. But wait! Read on...thats one of the beauties of Small World.
At the start of the game, you essentially 'buy' the race you want to be. Each race has a random power card attached to it and each race in of itself has a unique ability (this allows many interesting combinations).
You enter the new, small world with your race and take over lands that are ripe for the taking, remembering that you want to get as many victory coins as possible. Victory coins are held secretly by you so your opponent never knows how many points you have (unless they have a great memory).
As the game turns progress, you will come to the unfortunate inevitability of overstretching or being widdled away by warfare. You then have the option of allowing your race to go into 'decline'. This means your race has reached its height and is about to fall. You then can choose a NEW race to start with on your next turn. So one turn you may be the Halflings and the next you can be the lovely amazons! If you are lucky enough to have the Ghouls you actually can play with more than one race.
Combat is a CINCH! You need at least two tokens to enter into a new land (unless you have a power that says otherwise). If there is no one there you take it (and thus earning one victory coin). If there is another race there then you must have at least two tokens and at least as many as they have to conquer them. The player who you just defeated scoops up all the race tokens in that land and then discards one and re-allocates the remaining survivors into his other lands. That’s it!
There are other combat modifiers like mountains, forts, etc. The elves, for example, are very difficult to remove (they are the 'thorn' in everyones side). They never remove a race token when they are defeated.
This cycle of rise and decline continues throughout the game. One moment the seemingly invincible Amazons have swept half the map. The next, the Ghouls force the Amazons into decline.
Wife Factor
The wife had a blast! The game is NOT a hardcore strategy game. The rules are simple and turns are VERY fast with no constant rules flipping.
Kid Factor
Yes! My first strategy game with my seven and six-year olds that they enjoy and understand. They very much enjoy this and it is a great 'gateway' for future fantasy, strategy games.
Time Sink
How does 30 minutes to an hour sound to you? The game plays fast and the rules are very easy to learn and understand.
Strong Points
Small World allows for families to play a fantasy, strategy game that is fun and enjoyable for all. The game is easy and fast-to-play. The rules are simple but the strategies are truly complex. An example is deciding when to have your race go into decline.
The number of races and powers are extensive which allow for the game to be fresh and unique every time. Many of us were on the edge of our seat thinking one race was going to dominate but as they over stretched a new race(s) would pop up. The game is very unpredictable, and not in a random way.
Weak Points
Hmm...tough to say. For me, I would say the quality of what is given in the Small World box. There is some nice art work but as I mentioned earlier, it would have been nice to see a better looking map, and stronger components representative of the race tokens. I will say that the components are durable and will last a long time. I did forget to mention and do agree with the last two comments that the counters are functional in regards to stacking. But there usually is plenty of space on a land to not have to stack. I smell a great possible expansion in the future for a substitute for the race tokens
There were some rules situations that could have been better explained (can’t think of an example right now).
Play Highlights
-Marine assaults with my Tritons (think murloks but a lot tougher)
-The dreaded dragon token that can scare away even the largest of armies
-Elves that refuse to die and won’t go away!
-Amazons and their unstoppable advances
-My youngest daughter played the ghouls, put them in decline and was able to pop up two more races and scored a crap load of points. The ghouls are fearsome!
-Joining together with my oldest daughter to teach my wife a lesson for not helping us stop the Ghouls!
Summary
I am a hardcore gamer, or at least I think I am. But I found Small World SO refreshing in terms of how fun, easy, and truly strategic the game is. Combat is fun and rewarding (if you can call it combat). Though, I only played two games so far, the action kept me involved. It is not multi-player solitaire. There were even instances of diplomacy such as temporary alliances (when the Amazons and Ghouls come on the table you will see why!).
If you are a rules fanatic and like deep games this may not be for you. By no means, do I think Small World is a shallow game. It has its complexities but it’s the subtly of its nature that creates dynamic strategies which is brilliant.
Small World has shot to the top of my fun, must play games. A game that proves that 20 page rule books ARE NOT needed to have a memorable and enjoyable game.
The game also screams for expansions for which I can’t wait!
I give the game a 8.5/10 (the deduction for the quality of components in my opinion).
I strongly recommend any fantasy buffs purchasing this game, and for any dads out there that are itching to get their kids/wife into the wonderful world of fantasy gaming!
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