When people think of area control games, they think of games like Risk as the classic one. Risk can be a very long game and a very swingy game that someone could be knocked out of early. Even with all of that, I liked Risk growing up because it was something different than rolling and moving around the board, and there seemed to be more strategy in the game. But as I got older I stopped appreciating the game as much for the issues that the dice rolling is so random and that the games went on forever, and that sometimes, someone just got knocked out early.

That’s when I met a game called Small World.

In Small World, you are pushed into battle with various fantasy races and powers in your attempt to control territories, collect coins, and be the richest at the end of the game. To do this, you select your fantasy race and get the power that is paired up with it. That means that you might get seafaring elves one time, stout halflings, or flying dwarves, and the combinations will probably be different in future games, so that you can’t plan a perfect strategy every time. You take over territories not by rolling dice, but simply be placing down two more cardboard tokens than the number of pieces of cardboard that are there on the board. You can push your luck at the end, but there is no defense roll, unless, you have something like halflings who can’t be knocked out of their first location. Then, once you’ve done all that you can with a race, you put them into decline and you pick another combination that is out there and begin again.

Small World really forces you into conflict, in fact, Small World comes with two double sided boards, for player counts from 2 to 5 players so that the boards are just big enough that you don’t have to fight right away, but you will end up fighting quickly. And that’s just part of the game. In Risk, you would fight and if you did poorly, you’d get knocked out of the game. In Small World, while you lose troops, you can always go into decline when your race isn’t making you enough money and pick another one to come onto the board with and wipe out your enemies. And because of this constant cycling or races and tokens on the board, you don’t feel bad and you don’t feel like people are just ganging up on your troops, because you’ll get them back soon, then they’ll get someone else, and that person will get you and the cycle will repeat.

Small World also has a better time length for the game than something like Risk did. Small World says 40-80 minutes, and I think that’s pretty accurate, with higher player counts the game might go longer, and at two players it might go slightly shorter if both people know the game well. But it isn’t a game that overstays it’s welcome, and that’s what you really want at the table. If it was much longer, it would seem too long because it isn’t that complex a game.

I can actually see the complexity of the game being an issue for some people. This isn’t a highly strategic area control game. It is meant to be a light and fun game and with the art and the race and power combos, that is pretty obvious. You are going to have some tactical decisions to make, but not that many because if you make a mistake and leave an area open, it isn’t the end of the world. That’s good, because the player elimination is another part that isn’t great in some games like Risk. And I keep on comparing this to Risk, because the complexity level is probably less, so it’s a great way to bring people who like Risk or like the idea of Risk into a more modern style of game.

But let’s talk about the one thing that makes this a game that I get back to the table a few times a year, even with all the games that I have, and that’s the race and power combinations. That keeps Small World feeling fresh and unique each game. Plus, it’s something that they can expand, and in fact have expanded upon nicely. I don’t have all the expansions, and I kind of want to get more of them, but it’s fun to have a lot of different races and powers so that you don’t see the same combinations, and even when you do see one repeat from a previous game, you have a whole lot more that are new for you. And sometimes you get really funny combinations that might actually be surprisingly good. Flying Dwarves just sounds funny, but it can actually be good, because you don’t get many dwarves and getting them around to a bunch of mines would give you a lot of points, and that’s easier then spreading them out marching normally. Plus, having your own race and power makes you feel unique, and you get that feeling multiple times during a game.

Overall, Small World is a great introductory game, and even with expansions in there, it’s not too much for players who aren’t board gamers to play. Now, it is probably going to be too simple for some people who have been in the hobby for a long time, and it probably isn’t going to be for the Euro gamer, but for that fun game you can pull out and have a silly good time, Small World does a great job of that. It’s a gateway/entry level game that I would highly recommend for people who are looking to bring those older gamers into a more modern style of board gaming.

Overall Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: B-
Casual Grade: A+

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