Small World Underground differs from the vanilla version of the game in a few aspects, which I’m going to describe here below:

Goldsmith: this let you earn 2 extra victory coins per mine region you occupy; any other region is worth one less coin than normal. Simply put, small world play refers to a specific type of play for young children, using resources representing an environment and characters on a small scale. The Events mechanic is really simple, at the beginning of each turn you draw an Event card and apply its effect. The next event is also shown, so players can see what they’ll be up against next turn. Inside the BoxYou can print the maps out on one sheet of paper or as many as 64 for a giant map that you can hang on the wall or tape to the floor for geography fun. Cursed: it doesn’t have any abilities, but if you want to skip the Race whom this power is paired with, when selecting a combo, you must pay 3 coins instead of 1. Description: This really is a map with a difference, well, a few differences. Scratch Globe is a gold foil coated map of the world which allows you to scratch off where you’ve been on your travels. The Islamic Republic of The Gambia changed its name to Republic of The Gambia in 2017; maybe for image concerns?

Realising the Ambition is an updated Early Years national practice guidance that builds upon the concepts seen in previous documents: ‘Pre-Birth to Three’ and ‘Building the Ambition’. Published by Education Scotland in February 2020, it aims to improve ELC provisions across the country and offer support for practitioners and families. Not included in the IMF list, nor the United Nations list, are some country-like territories, geopolitical units that are de facto autonomous but disputed or otherwise not generally recognized, such as Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, Saharawi (Western Sahara), Somaliland, and Transnistria, which would add five more countries to the list. Gunner: you receive 2 cannons and they can be placed on your regions, allowing you to conquer adjacent regions for 2 less tokens than normal; regions with a cannon inside are immune to conquests, racial or special powers. Skags: randomly place 1 Loot marker on each conquered region; these markers will be then revealed by the opponents, when they conquer your regions, or by you when you decline the race; revealing those markers leads to different outcomes.

Reviews

Marauding: once you complete your conquests, before rolling the reinforcement die, take your troops, leaving at least one token on each conquered region, and do another cycle of conquests with the rest of them. If you like the original Small World, this is basically its perfect copy with a different game board, theme, Races and Special Powers.

If you know Small World, you already know that is quite an amazing game, perfectly suited for both beginners and experienced gamers. The benefits of small world play are plentiful. This form of play nurtures children’s imaginations while providing plenty of learning opportunities. Children will get the chance to explore new materials, act out real-life experiences or scenarios, and support language and social skills, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the world around them. Thematically, I like the idea of imaging another kingdom above the clouds and the races fighting to conquer it! As I previously said, I consider the presence of new races and powers very important when I’m buying any new Small World expansions. Shipyard: the player that occupies the Shipyard region is entitled to place the Shipyard token on any river regions and start future conquests from directly from there.

One of the major pros of the game is its replayability, which is almost infinite thanks to all the possible combinations between the Races and Special Powers included in the base game. Harsh Winter: river regions are now frozen and they become normal regions, each earning 1 victory coin; however, unless you reveal another Harsh Winter event, your troops must leave those reigons. The Scratch Map Deluxe also offers incredibly intricate geographical details like land and ocean relief so you get a more complete view of the world you are travelling. When you’ve scratched off the country or continent you’ve been to, a rich and colorful map with geographical detail is revealed underneath. Oceania, one continental-sized territory (Australia), three major archipelagos (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia), 14 sovereign countries, 10,000 islands, 42.6 million people. Together with Australia, Oceania forms the Australia/Oceania Region.

I’ve made a personal list with all the currently available Small World expansions ranked from the best to the worst. This is the first of the Small World expansions that I’d recommend buying first if you are looking to expand the game. Although I appreciate all of these add-ons, I don’t really think that this is an essential expansion to buy.

International

This expansion introduces 54 event cards, divided into multiple categories, that will change the plot of each turn. The new “playing in teams” mechanic is interesting, even though I would have preferred a different way to determine the score of a team. The first two are actually developed as part of the Small World Design Contest, and it includes winning drawings from over 700 submissions. Clean and non-distracting design with clear, easy to read fonts will fit well in any interior from cozy children’s bedrooms to modern offices. Setting up the board, while being fun, requires quite a chunk of time; maintaining the regions proportions as written in the rulebook is a challenge and the font chosen to mark the tiles is just a nightmare to read.