Indigo

I can’t tell you how many nights my daughter has asked to play a ‘quick game of Uno’ when getting ready for bed. With only two players, sometimes hands can go extremely quickly – we can even finish the game without having to draw once! This is the one game we always make sure to bring with us on family trips, since it’s so easy to pack and can somehow be played for hours without getting dull.

You know those games that are easier to play with someone else who’s already played them a few times and can help speed things along, especially in the initial setup? Small World is one of those games.

Three of us sat down to play, and after spending a good 30 minutes sorting the pieces out and trying to make sense of the 12-page rule booklet, another friend decided to join in. Which of course meant using a different, larger board.

We managed to figure out how to work the first round of play, which took another ten minutes or so, but couldn’t figure out how to proceed from there. Were we supposed to move our troops into adjacent territories? None of our territories had enough troops to move, and we couldn’t find a section in the instructions about how to attack neighbors. It seemed the only logical strategy was to put our races into decline and all pick new races again, after having spent several minutes learning the benefits of our first races.

I suspect this game gets more enjoyable the more familiar you are with it, and again, if you’re playing with people who know how to play. But for a first-comer, the learning curve is extremely steep.

Update: I did give SmallWorld a second try with someone who knew the game well, and it did prove to be a radically different experience! After it was featured on an episode of TableTop my curiosity was piqued. If you’re interested in this game, I’d suggest watching that first just to get a sense of the gameplay, then find someone who knows how to play and have them walk you through the game.