Game Daze Foothills Mall Employee Review, August/September 2009

Thomas-

I had a chance to play this with my wife and even with learning the rules for the first time, we completed the two player game in just under an hour. Smallworld looks like it should take longer to play with all the fun little bits you get with the game, but it’s a fast, furious hour of fun. The game is played over a continent where various fantasy empire come into power and eventually fade away over time. Each empire is made up of a race and an adjective, like Merchant Skeletons or Pillaging Halflings. You choose your starting empire, have them spread across the world, and eventually replace them with an equally ludicrous empire, like the Bivouacking Ghouls. You’ll gain victory points in the form of coins based on how much territory your empires span (and sometimes from the type of empire your Alchemist Giants are). These coins are also used to buy better races, so there’s a bit of risk involved: will I get enough victory points to make the purchase of the Underworld Amazons worthwhile, or should I go with the cheaper Seagoing Ratmen? The other really cool thing about Smallworld is the game comes with four game boards, so when you play two player, you’re using one board; five players use a completely different board. It’s really neat how this scales between players. Smallworld is a Days of Wonder release, so you know it looks and feels great. It plays in about 40 to 80 minutes and is great for groups of 2 to 5 gamers.

Game Daze Chandler Fashion Center Employee Recommendation, June/July 2009

David Y.-

It's a Small World, there's not enough room for the two of us, or the three of us, and especially not for the four or five of us! So take hold of your civilization and set out to conquer the world! Spread your influence across the map until your civilization has spread themselves too thin to hold their countries, then send them into decline and find yourself another civilization to continue your march. Each civilization has special qualities, from the lowly ratmen with their hordes to the lofty wizards who gain points for claiming magical sites to the aquaticTritons who conquer beachfront territory much more easily than others. Each civilization also has a unique power to go with it, like the Commandos who conquer areas more easily, or the merchants who gain extra points for lands you have conquered. The goal is simply to have the most points at the end of eight turns, one point per territory you have claimed each turn, but beware of your opponents who are eyeing your lands. This world really isn't big enough for everyone.

Game Daze Paradise Valley Mall Employee Recommendation, June/July 2009

Blake-

Small World is a big game (haha!) by Days of Wonder. Like many other Days of Wonder games Small World is full of quirky characters and unique landscapes. The game is played like a classic “territorial conquest” game, with each player choosing a team with unique abilities and powers and trying to occupy as much space as possible. A big twist to this, however, is that as you progress through the game you will have the opportunity to “purchase” a new primary race should you feel that you are at a disadvantage. This in turn can lead to some very interesting and clever tactics by using your new race to occupy a completely different section of the board. All of the effort put forth occupying territory and manipulating races is for a singular purpose: to rack up as many points as possible by the end of the game. The length of play can vary depending on how many people you have playing. In fact, one aspect of the game that I find most attractive is that the game comes with many different sized boards, each corresponding to the number of races/players you would like to have participating in the game.

Small World was one of the games that really stood out to me as I studied the games in our Strategy section, and I feel that I would recommend Small World to anyone else who is a fan of the genre. All of the pieces and boards that come with the game are of very high quality and playing the game is a blast!

Game Daze Superstition Springs Mall Manager Review, May 2009

Jay-

In the tradition of Settlers of Catan and Risk, Small World is a keen world domination game new to our stores. You must choose a race and special power (but choose wisely) from a selection column and try to conquer the board (a.k.a. world) with that race. However, whenever you feel that you are unable to continue conquering or defend your territories, you may put your race into decline. On your next turn, you choose a new race and special power and start over. At the end of the game (there are a set number of turns) you count up your points which are awarded based on your territories and special powers.

When reading the instructions the game can be a bit confusing. However, I tackled this game like I do any other. Try playing it based on what I do understand and let the rest fall into place. Like most games, it did fall into place and began to make sense. Then of course it became fun.

This game can get very vindictive. One person conquers your territories forcing you into decline. Then you take your second race and start witling away at their less defended territories from behind. Since you can still get points for territories owned by your race that is in decline in addition to the new race’s territories, you can rack up the points rather quickly. However, the races can also cost you points to get. Only the top race in the column is free.

Having played this game, I highly recommend it for anyone who loves to conquer and has a bit of vindictiveness in their nature. This covers the majority of us gamers. I had a lot of fun with the forest halflings, which can burrow holes to prevent others from conquering their territories and gain an extra point for having forested territories. Unfortunately, my dwarves fell to dragon master humans who conquered nearly the entire board by expending very little soldiers.