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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In Sushi Go Party! you are drafting cards to collect sets of various foods you might find in a Japanese restaurant. These foods will score you different points for how they are collected. Eel, for example gives you 7 total points if you have two or more, but if you only have one, you lose 3 points. Or with tofu, if you have two they are worth 5 points for the pair, but if you get a third, they aren’t worth any points. And there are a lot of different appetizers, deserts, rolls, and specials that you can use. You draft three hands of cards, first passing left, then right, and then back left, resetting the cards, each time. Except the dessert cards which you score at the end of the game, because you have to wait for dessert.

What makes Sushi Go Party! a good game, besides the simplicity of the drafting, is the variety of cards that you have. You only ever play with a single dessert and a single roll, so with three of them, you can create a variety. There are a lot of specials that you can use that change up how you draft and score in interesting ways, and then the appetizers, while there are three of them, you have a good variety of them. So you can make it a very friendly game where everything scores you no points or positive points and end up with a very high scoring game. You can also tailor the combination to be really tough. If you had eel, tofu, a dessert like pudding or fruit, you can create a combination that is really mean and I’ve seen someone get negative points to start the game.

This ability to tailor the combination of foods makes the game for a good variety in types of players. If it’s a more casual group where you want points, you can do that, and vice-a-versa. And the variety in player count works as well. On the Board Game Geek page, the recommended number is 4-5 players as you can get more strategy, but the game can play as few as 2 and up to 8, so you have a big range of players. I personally would say that 4-8 is where the game is ideal because you get the full party effect then, and a smaller number is too strategic in your drafting, and if you can remember cards and count cards, you are going to be at an advantage.

Another thing that is really strong in this game is the artwork. I realize it might be too cute for some people or make people think it can’t be a strategic game, but they have branded it well and made it very accessible for gamers and non-gamers because of the artwork. When you pull it out as compared to other drafting games, for example, 7 Wonders, Sushi Go Party! is going to be easier to get to the table because the artwork is going to be more attractive to most people. Now, like I said, it can be a turn off for some, but especially for casual gamers, I think that it helps sell the game. And it is also going to be attractive to most children, so if you want to get them to more complex drafting games like 7 Wonders, Sushi Go Party! is going to be a good starting point and an easier sell based off of the artwork.

Overall, this game hits the table pretty often. It’s a good game for board game nights because it can handle that higher player count. And a game of it doesn’t take too long because everyone is drafting at the same time. I like this game as a warm-up for a board game night as it gets people thinking more than a lot of party games as well and the game length allows it to fit into that filler category so you still have time for longer games later.

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

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