Author Topic: Anyone played Small World?  (Read 3327 times)

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Bloody Initiate

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Anyone played Small World?
« on: November 09, 2010, 05:07:37 PM »
Small world is a fantasy board game where you play through the rise and fall of different civilizations. You and other players race your society up to its peak and then send them into decline on a map that's always just a little too small for all of you.

It has a surprising deep amount of strategy to it, and the game is set up so different races come out with different special abilities that will change how they play. You can play for control of so much of the map, or you can just create and decline civilizations over and over again for quick gold. The game can only last 8 turns, and a lot can happen in one turn. I played it with my roleplaying group and a couple of us were up for several hours after the game's conclusion just talking strategy. It was lots of fun, and if no one buys/brings it to our group more often I intend to make it a Christmas present to someone.
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RobbyPants

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2010, 09:32:36 AM »
I saw it last year when we were shopping for my daughter.  It looked interesting, but I hadn't played it.  Can you play it with just two players?  How long does a typical game last?
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Bloody Initiate

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2010, 11:24:26 PM »
It can be played with only two. The way it works is that the you play a different map depending on how many players are present (So that you're always forced onto each other's space). I've only played it once and we were actually 1 player above max, which still worked pretty well. I could actually see one more player fitting on the board, but the way the way the races work that might get annoying.

Our game lasted about an hour I think, but only two of us had played before so we were taking our turns slowly. I didn't time it, but it felt like about an hour, which is pretty good considering the amount of people playing. When your turn ends you reap the benefits of all your actions, so that someone can wipe you off the board immediately afterward and you will still play on with a new race.

When I say it maxes/ends at 8 turns those turns are actually more akin to "rounds". You go around the board 8 times with each player taking a turn, so 4 players would actually take 32 turns since each of them will have taken 8 by the end of the game.
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Dan2

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2010, 07:32:11 PM »
I really enjoy this game.  It could stand to be slightly better balanced, but it'd definitely one of my favorites.

Bloody Initiate

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 04:17:50 AM »
Yeah, my buddy and I were noticing some balance issues and it was the first time we played the game. Thankfully we were also quickly brainstorming house rules to patch these issues. It seems like a common error of board games since they typically receive very little if any support post-release. They may work so hard to clean up their system, but there's only so much they can do. Companies releasing errata seems pretty rare even in roleplaying games, and even when they do they often patch the wrong stuff or not enough.

Even without houserules, my group tends to fix things by starting you out with pertinent info: This aspect SUCKS, never use it, that aspect is crazy good.
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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2011, 10:37:52 PM »
Very good game, highly reccommended. I often think about running an RPG based in the setting of the game, where the outcome of a game forms the history of the setting. Just to see if it'd work.
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Hallack

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2011, 12:06:04 PM »
I've played it several times and have enjoyed it as well.  It is a fun relatively short game.
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NeverGetDrunkButStaySober

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2011, 05:06:11 PM »
Has anyone else played with the Necromancer scenario? Our group's used it twice, and both times the Necromancer's won (barely).

Bloody Initiate

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Re: Anyone played Small World?
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2011, 03:44:46 AM »
I've played with the necromancer expansion. I started with bivouacking elves and IMMEDIATELY surrounded the lake so she couldn't get out. There were three of us playing, and the other non-necromancer player focused on winning for himself instead of helping me, so I ended up crippled for most of the rest of the game while they fought. Don't remember who won, just that it wasn't me. I think he managed to keep her down though, since there's a controllable math to the necromancer's progress (As with most aspects of the game).

I really like the idea of using a game as the history for a campaign world. It's not even difficult, and it ends up being pretty interesting. It's one of my favorite board games. Sadly my buddy and I get kinda vindictive and personal about it, which I think turns others away from it.
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