Initially I was a little overwhelmed with the sheer amount of instructions. However once we got a grasp on Small World (sent to me by my friends at Esdevium Games) and started playing it made much more sense and it all started to fall into place. I loved the concept because I like intriguing characters with special powers and the way they are all trying desperately to stake their claim in a Small World! Yes it really is a squeeze for everyone. It’s hard not to get a little power hungry and try to hang on to as much land as you can to generate lots of Victory coins.

Lots of Interesting Races

You have orcs, skeletons, sorcerers, giants and ghouls to name but a few of the 14 distinctive races. It’s worth reading up about the races instead of choosing blindly at the beginning because each one has their own unique ability and depending on your approach to the game might work to your advantage.

You even have the option to create one special power of your own as one of the badges is blank. I like that you can be as creative as you want although there is no guarantee which particular race the super power will end up with. It does keep the game play quite fresh as you play different races or try out new super powers each time you start over.

I like how the player to go first is the one with the pointiest ears, this was the cue for the boys to argue over who would go first and even try and stretch out their ears a bit longer just to improve their chances!!! But it was a good start to get into character for the game, you can see eldest here focusing all his energies (and concentration!) on cultivating pointy ears!!!

It’s for adults and children 8+ but I would say play Small World a couple of times before introducing children so they don’t get frustrated with you reading through the lengthy booklet and learning how to conquer regions, how to abandon them and scoring. Once you have mastered the game though they will enjoy it, plenty of challenges and it feels like a real adventure.

Win a copy of Small World

I have a copy of Small World (£39.99) and the newly released Small World expansion (River World, £21.99) to giveaway.  If you would like to enter please fill out the form below by the 15th of January. River World introduces pirates into the mix and offers the same compelling game play with a few welcome twists. Both the original game and the expansion are available to buy from Amazon and your local friendly game shop: www.findyourgamestore.co.uk.

The competition has now closed please check out my open competitions.