Small World (board game)

German Games Award 2009: 5th place Game of the Year 2009: Games Hit for experts International Gamers Award 2009: Nominated Japan Boardgame Prize 2009: 6th place Meeples ' Choice Award 2009 As d' Or - Jeu de l' Année 2010: Special Jury Award Games Magazine: Game of the Year 2010

Small World (English: "Small World" ) is a strategic board game for two to five people, developed by Philippe Keyaerts and illustrated by Miguel Coimbra. It was published in 2009 at the Days of Wonder and based on an earlier board game of the author, Vinci from 1999. In October 2009, it was one of the four games that were played on the European board game championship.

Game idea

The game is about the rise and fall of many nations in the fantasy world Small World. Players act as rulers over the nations, conquer and control with their help regions and collect as victory points. The special features of the game is one that a player does not reach this only with a particular people; rather he must specifically allowed to fail his old, weaker nations and set up new nations in order to be successful in the long run.

Material

The game material from Small World is relatively extensive. So there is a separate Schedule for any number of players. The game plans are divided in 20 to 46 regions, representing, for example, forests, hills, mountains or wetlands.

The peoples are randomly generated combinations (sets) of races and special abilities. Each of the 14 genre typical races ( Orcs, Elves, Amazons, Halflings, ghouls, ...) and each of the 20 special abilities ( " Flying ", " Fearless ", " Diplomat ", " Sailor", ...) has certain advantages. The player checks about " Mounted Dwarfs", he receives additional victory points for regions with mines (property of the dwarves ) and requires fewer troops to invade cropland and hilly regions ( property of the special ability " Mounted ").

The presence of people in each region is indicated by tokens, similar to the game of risk. The total number of tokens available to a player for a people that are available depend on the breed and the special ability. More tokens show defenses, heroes and a dragon, they can be used by people with certain characteristics.

The aim of the game is to collect as many victory points. They are counted using the Victory coins, these continue to serve as cash at the " purchase " new peoples.

The game material includes:

  • 2 double-sided game boards
  • 14 double-sided race banner and 20 property plaques (results in 280 possible combinations peoples )
  • 186 double-sided counters ( armies )
  • 109 Victory coins
  • 35 specialty brands ( forts, mountains, bearings, hero, Dragon ), relevant to specific properties
  • Battle dice, round marker and Instructions

Game History

At the beginning are on the board of some tokens for long-lost tribes, they make the conquest of regions in the early rounds more difficult. Players select one of the six nations ausliegenden combinations. Depending on the combination, this can some Victory coins (and VPs ) cost. The international delivery is always replenished to six by one each new random race and ability to be tightened.

The player then receives as many game markers ( armies ) for his people, as indicated on the racial and ability platelets. Armies used to conquer new territories and defend occupied regions. Regions are again the main source of victory points, the possession of as many regions is therefore of crucial game.

New people are always brought by the conquest of peripheral regions into play. In general, a region to be conquered, if the attacking player using a sufficient number of Tokens of his people for it. Difficult terrain, defense troops and fortifications in the target area require the use of more armies. Conquest, a player can perform as long as he can muster enough armies for it. Absence of the player for one last campaign a few armies, he can try another attack using the cube. This "last attempt to conquer " is also the only one in which chance plays a role.

Following the conquest phase, a player may re-distribute his troops at will, but must remain in each region at least an army. The end of a turn, forms the scoring phase: A player gets for all regions he controlled at the end of his round, victory coins. Depending on the breed and special ability to bring certain regions of bonus income and are thus interesting to the player ( for example, received the "People" bonus Victory coins for controlled arable land).

As the game progresses, the armies of a nation are always more scatter or decimated by counter-attacks, so that is no longer suitable for the people further conquests. The player may then decide to sink this nation. He chooses for the delivery a new people and receives new troops. While the doomed nations lose power, but use their former rulers continue: Your troops remain, though decimated, in the formerly occupied regions and therefore bring more long victory coins to these regions to be conquered by other peoples. The sub- letting go of a people costs the player a complete game round, the decision on the right time to give up a people is of great importance for the game.

A game is, depending on the number of players is limited to 9 to 12 rounds and takes about 60 minutes. At game end, the player who could accumulate the most victory points wins.

Awards

At the award ceremony of the German Games Award 2009 Smallworld reached the 5th place. From the Wiener Spiele Akademie it received the " Games for Hit experts 2009". Furthermore, Small World was for the International Gamers Award 2009 in the category " General Strategy Games - Multiplayer " nominated. The U.S. Games Magazine Games Magazine named Small World for "Game of the Year 2010" (Category Board Games ). The French gaming site Tric Trac gave the game the award " Tric Trac d' Or 2009 ". At the ceremony of the French critics price As d' Or - Jeu de l' Année on March 4, 2010, the game won the Special Jury Prize ( Prix spécial du jury ).

Extensions

To Smallworld four extensions have been published. All peoples, properties, and new games elements contained therein are based on the contributions of a Days of Wonder in summer / autumn 2009 organized ideas competition to the game.

The previously released expansions:

  • Cursed! (English title: Cursed ) contains two new races ( Goblins and Goblins ) and five new special abilities, including the eponymous negative property " Cursed ", which has no benefit and their skipping extra gold costs when buying.
  • Girl Power (English title: Grand Dames of Small World) contains three new female Peoples ( priestesses, gypsies and the White women) and two new special abilities.
  • Leader of the Small World (English title: Leaders of Small World ) is a technology developed in the UK as part of the Competition by Michael Ormesher extension that was given to the participants in the competition since November 2009 and is available exclusively at BoardGameGeek. It complements the game to a leader for each race (including the races of extensions), which acts as a specific marker in the game play.
  • Fables & Legends (English title: Tales & Legends ) was released in July 2010 and was developed by Laurent Verrier, winner of the design competition with the assistance of game designer Keyaerts, graphic design took over this time Nicolas Fructus. The extension comprises a total of 54 event cards, but at the beginning of each new round one is revealed. The event cards each show a special rule for that round, for example, that certain regions in the round can not be captured or even necessary to leave or that a certain style of play brings additional victory points.
  • Do not panic! (English title: Be Not Afraid ... ) contains five new races and special abilities, and a storage tray for all previous expansions. As of publication date, the publisher announced the end of October 2010.
  • The island of the Necromancer (English title: Necromancer Iceland ) is a limited extension, which is available as a free extra to buy a small-world game with some dealers. With the expansion, a player can assume the role of the eponymous necromancer who plays according to modified rules and created his army, the spirits, among other things left over from tokens.

Small World Underground

Small World Underground is a stand-alone game, released in May 2011, which, however, largely based on Smallworld and its rules and game mechanics takes over almost unchanged. Many elements of Small World Underground can therefore be combined with those of its predecessor and its extensions. Apart from the changes described below and the associated rule modifications corresponding to the gameplay of the Small World.

Thematically, the struggle for regions now under the earth's surface takes place and is being fought out of 15 new, subterranean peoples. There are four newly designed game plans ( one for each player number), where the terrain types are mostly just a variation on the predecessor ( " mushroom forest " instead of " forest ", etc.). The new features include impassable chasms, and a river that separates the world into two land masses and replaces the marine regions of the predecessor.

Technically new game are the Special Places and Honorable Age watchman. You will be randomly drawn and placed on the board as soon as a player captures a (a new game neutral party ) occupied region of monsters. Places and antiquities can conquer the corresponding region change hands and bring this certain advantages in the game: the " scepter of greed " can per round doubles victory point yield of a region, for example, once the " sacrilege gorgeous pentagram " allows for conquering the use of a powerful monster. Places and antiquities differ from each other only in so far as the age watchman for their use in the appropriate region must be laid, whereas special places remain for the rest of the game in the original region.

In the 2011 game, a mini-expansion was presented with the title Small World Tunnels. It makes it possible to combine the worlds of Small World and Small World Underground to a common world, which up to six players can play. The extension should be available free of charge in games shops.

Implementation for the iPad

Beginning of April 2010 appeared Small World for the first time as an implementation for the Apple iPad. Graphics, game play and rules are the same as the board game, however, occur in the iPad version is always only two players against each other. The published in July 2010 Version 1.0 added including a computer opponent for single player mode and sound effects. Originally only the peoples of the basic version were included in the game, the two expansions were in August 2010 Cursed together with an update to version 1.1! and female power offered as separately purchased downloads.

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