Small World, Big Shoes.

Ok. So the first entry on the blog should be about something geeky...something, that as a geek , I love and probably spend too much time doing.
While there are a lot of things that qualify for that honor, few of them come close to Small World on the iPad.

I've had my iPad for several weeks. I have six screens worth of apps, and fully 3 of those are games. Small World, by Days of Wonder was my first purchase and remains my most played game on the device.

A little about Small World and it's publisher:

Days of Wonder is a French-American game company.

Their largest and most commercial success is Ticket To Ride (a game I'm not overly fond of).

Their other games include;
Memoir '44 (mostly a 2 player tactical WW II game)
Shadows Over Camelot (an innovative co-op game)
Pirate's Cove (who doesn't like a pirate game?)
Cleopatra and the Society of Architects
(a set collecting game about building a temple)

Days of wonder is known for quality and their games are often quite family friendly. They are also know for their online gaming community. Several of their more popular games are available for play over the internet, internationally. All of these online games are realized quite successfully and
often mirror their physical counterparts exactly.

Enter Small World.
A reprint, actually, Small World was an instant hit in the hobby community. With a slew of analytical and themeless games being imported form around the globe, Small World immediately stood out for it's game play and humorous Fantasy theme.

From the Days of Wonder Site:
Small World, the fun, zany, light-hearted civilization board game!
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.

Essential Small World is a conquest game in which you must manage a modest amount of units over the span of several turns… The true innovation here (from the predecessor Vinci) is the fact that no one player can hope to last the entire game with a single 'race' of units. Players must time the decline of their active races in hopes to start fresh with a new 'army.'
All said, I love Small World as a board game.

Enter Small World for the iPad.
The iPad version of the game is restricted to 2 players and is fully realized with all the great art from it's physical counterpart.

Price: $4.99
As iPad apps go this is one of the more expensive games, though it is no where near the most expensive. App owners may also buy the expansion (there are two) for $1.99 each.
For a total of $8.97, I have completely been satisfied and eagerly await future expansions and enhancements. Days of Wonder really hit a great balance with its pricing.

Gameplay:
The game play is phenomenal. Not only does the computer take care of all the mundane movement, allocation and removal of the multitude of pieces in the game, it also capture the quirky feel of the game with it's animations and sound. New users can fumble their way through the AI with minimal trouble as many of the actions you take feel natural and mimc the way you would play the physical game.

The computer is also a tough opponent at times. There have been a couple of updates to the app to improve the AI such that it most accurately mimics a human player. In truth, I have learned a lot about some of the subtle strategies in the game from watching how the computer uses each of the combinations in race/special ability.

The only thing I find myself wanting is a difficulty setting that could turn the AI's skill level up or down. Also, the game has the ability to allow players to select a sound track from their iTunes library, but if you have a lot of music, it can be quite daunting to find the songs you really want to hear.

Overall, I think this is the best game available on the iPad. Days of Wonder has really set the bar high for what I expect from a ported board game.

If you own an iPad and enjoy boardgames, I really believe you'll like this game. I have played this game well over 100 times, and still look forward to playing more.

If you don't own an iPad, I encourage you to pick up the physical boardgame. It's quickly become a classic and will be enjoyed by many families for years to come.

Check out this video:

•Small World Video