Small World

Categories: Fantasy, Fighting, Territory Building

Mechanics: Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Hidden Victory Points, Increase Value of Unchosen Resources, Variable Player Powers, Variable Set-up, Victory Points as a Resource

Players: 2–5

Ages: 8+

Playtime: 40–80 Min

In Small World, players compete for dominance over a world that's simply too small for everyone to thrive. Designed by Philippe Keyaerts as a fantasy sequel to his award-winning game Vinci, Small World features a whimsical cast of characters, including dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and humans. These races use their armies to occupy territories and conquer neighboring lands, pushing other races off the map.

Players choose from 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, striving to expand their empires, often at the expense of weaker neighbors. However, knowing when to let a civilization go "into decline" and transition to a new one is key to victory. On each turn, players either use their race's tiles to occupy adjacent territories—potentially defeating weaker enemies—or decide to let their race go into decline, flipping their tiles to the black-and-white side.

At the end of each turn, players earn one point (coin) for each territory their races control. They can have one active race and one race in decline on the board simultaneously, with their total occupation varying based on the race's special abilities and the territories they hold. After the final round, the player with the most coins wins.