2020Philippe Keyaerts
- Videos
- 51
- Creators
- 4
2 - 5 players40 - 80 minMedium weight

2009Philippe Keyaerts
Mostly reviews and how-to-play. Small World is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 26 reviews, 19 how-to-play guides, 7 recorded sessions, 3 unboxings, and 4 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. Designed by Philippe Keyaerts as a fantasy follow-up to his award-winning Vinci, Small World is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans, who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth. Picking the right combination from the 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, players rush to expand their empires - often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory! On each turn, you either use the multiple tiles of your chosen race (type of creatures) to occupy adjacent (normally) territories - possibly defeating weaker enemy races along the way, or you give up on your race letting it go "into decline". A race in decline is designated by flipping the tiles over to their black-and-white side. At the end of your turn, you score one point (coin) for each territory your races occupy. You may have one active race and one race in decline on the board at the same time. Your occupation total can vary depending on the special abilities of your race and the territories they occupy. After the final round, the player with the most coins wins. Clarifications: available in a pinned forum post.
Small World has 59 videos from 51 creators: 26 reviews, 19 how-to-play guides, 7 playthroughs, 3 unboxings and 4 other videos. They date from 2009 to January 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "Small World - How To Play (Updated Version In Description)" by Watch It Played, which runs 23 min. For a quicker teach, "Episode 21: Small World" by HaydenTeeter runs 9 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Small World - with Tom Vasel" by The Dice Tower. 23 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Small World - GameNight! Se1 Ep7 - How to Play and Playthrough" by BoardGameGeek, one of 7 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Small World of Warcraft, Small World Designer Edition and Evo, also by Philippe Keyaerts, or Revenant, which shares several of its mechanics.
8 of 51
2020Philippe Keyaerts
2 - 5 players40 - 80 minMedium weight
2015Philippe Keyaerts
2 - 6 players40 - 80 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
In Small World, players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate them all. Designed by Philippe Keyaerts as a fantasy follow-up to his award-winning Vinci, Small World is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans, who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth. Picking the right combination from the 14 different fantasy races and 20 unique special powers, players rush to expand their empires - often at the expense of weaker neighbors. Yet they must also know when to push their own over-extended civilization into decline and ride a new one to victory! On each turn, you either use the multiple tiles of your chosen race (type of creatures) to occupy adjacent (normally) territories - possibly defeating weaker enemy races along the way, or you give up on your race letting it go "into decline". A race in decline is designated by flipping the tiles over to their black-and-white side. At the end of your turn, you score one point (coin) for each territory your races occupy. You may have one active race and one race in decline on the board at the same time. Your occupation total can vary depending on the special abilities of your race and the territories they occupy. After the final round, the player with the most coins wins. Clarifications: available in a pinned forum post.
Designer
Philippe Keyaerts
Artists
Miguel Coimbra, Cyrille Daujean
Publisher
Days of Wonder
Categories
Mechanics