Small World review

This land was not large, but it lived in peace and prosperity, apart from a few Lost Tribes in the forests and caves. And the Giants in the mountains, who sometimes descended into the valleys hanging. Oh, and also the Commando Namers who came from the south. There were occasional conquests by the Flying Seahorses, but they were short-lived as they were chased away by the Amazons. The Amazons, on the other hand, were chased away by trolls, but their expansion was not scary, because from the other side came the Elven Hippies with a tamed Dragon, burning everything in their path...

So the land lived in peace and prosperity.

Small World is a territory control game (for those familiar with the genre classic - Risk - the principle will be clear in an instant), in which several tribes try to conquer the most lands before running out of soldiers and beginning to decline.

Each player receives a certain number of warriors of his tribe (there are a lot of tribes - Wizards, Giants, Hobbits, Ratmen, Amazons...) and during the turn decides on their distribution - to conquer the territory, you need 2 units, but if there is a mountain - then 3, if the opponent - then plus one for each warrior of the opponent, fortresses, camps, towers and everything else that each tribe can leave must also be counted. At the end of a turn, each territory gives points and the turn passes to the next player… Who does the same, sometimes immediately taking away the lands they just conquered.

The game mechanism is simple, but it is varied by tribes - each of them has its own ability, for example, giants get +1 strength if they conquer the territory next to the mountain. Dwarves, on the other hand, get 2x more points for each mine. Elves do not die, they return to the player and can return to the field on the next turn.

In addition to this, each tribe has a random ability that adds another element - such as a Dragon that can conquer one territory per turn, regardless of the number of forces there, or tribe tents that can be placed on conquered lands, making it more difficult to take them away. or the ability to fly…

Another addition is the descent of tribes - when all warriors are on the field and further conquests are not possible, a descent can be declared, which means that no more actions are taken with the current tribe, and the player can choose the next one. The previous tribe remains on the field and continues to give income, and also serves as an obstacle to the expansion of opponents. During one game, each player will switch about 3 tribes, trying out different tactics and options.

In summary: the game is simple (definitely family-friendly too), visually engaging, and can be played not just once, but certainly several times over the course of an evening. In addition, if you like the game and play it often enough, it has an impressive range of add-ons - Dungeon variant, Rivers, Islands and others.

So then? The land lived in peace and harmony...

You can buy the game in Brain Games stores on the 1st floor of Rīga Plaza or K. Barona Street 55, or in the online store: Small World

Board Game Geek rating: 7.3

Author: Kārlis Bergmanis

Pictures from personal archive and Board Game Geek